title: Ni-Fe2O4 nanoparticles as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: Reported herein is the synthesis of a dextran coating on nickel ferrite (Ni-Fe2O4) nanoparticles via chemical coprecipitation. The aqueous solution of the synthesized nanoparticles showed good colloidal stability, and no precipitate was observed 20 months after the synthesis. The coated nanoparticles were found to be cylindrical in shape in the TEM images, and showed a uniform size distribution with an average length and diameter of 17 and 4 nm, respectively. The coated particles were evaluated as potential T1 and T2 contrast agents for MRI. The T1 and T2 relaxations of the hydrogen protons in the water molecules in an aqueous solution of dextran-coated Ni-Fe2O4 nanoparticles were studied. It was found that the T1 relaxivity for the aqueous solution of dextran-coated nanoparticles was slightly greater than that of a commercial Gd-DTPA-BMA contrast agent. The T2 relaxivity, however, was almost twice that of the commercial Gd-DTPA-BMA contrast agent. Animal experimentation also demonstrated that the dextran-coated Ni-Fe2O4 nanoparticles are suitable for use as either T1 or T2 contrast agents in MRI.
authors: School of Physics and Energy Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, South Korea.
authors: Tanveer
authors: T
authors: Ahmad
authors: Ilsu
authors: I
authors: Rhee
authors: Sungwook
authors: S
authors: Hong
authors: Yongmin
authors: Y
authors: Chang
authors: Jaejun
authors: J
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D003911:Dextrans / Q000737:chemistry*; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA / Q000737:chemistry; D007728:Kupffer Cells; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009532:Nickel / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D051381:Rats; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D003911:Dextrans; D005290:Ferric Compounds; C550717:nickel ferrite; D009532:Nickel; C064925:gadodiamide; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA