title: Superparamagnetic perfluorooctylbromide nanoparticles as a multimodal contrast agent for US, MR, and CT imaging.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Multimodal contrast agents usually containing two or more signal components can be used for several imaging modalities. Thus, complimentary information can be obtained by using just one kind of contrast agents.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the potential of superparamagnetic perfluorooctylbromide nanoparticles (M-PFOBNP) as a multimodal contrast agent for ultrasonography (US)/magnetic resonance (MR)/computed tomography (CT) multimodality imaging.
  
  
  METHODS
  The composite agent M-PFOBNP was developed by introducing superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles into perfluorooctylbromide nanoparticles (PFOBNP). Several analytical tools were employed to characterize the agent. The potential of M-PFOBNP for US/MR/CT multimodality imaging were assessed in vivo. The cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of the agent were studied in vitro.
  
  
  RESULTS
  M-PFOBNP with well-defined spherical morphology and homogeneous size of 200-250 nm was obtained. Fe3O4 nanoparticles were successfully integrated into PFOBNP and preserved their superparamagnetic characteristics after encapsulation. The in vivo studies showed that M-PFOBNP produced higher echogenicity than PFOBNP and possessed strong magnetic susceptibility and radiopacity for multimodality imaging. Macrophages incubated with different concentrations of M-PFOBNP resulted in a dose-dependent cellular uptake, which did not affect the viability of the cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  M-PFOBNP may potentially serve as a multimodal contrast agent for enhanced US, MR, and CT imaging.
authors: Department of Ultrasound in Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
authors: Ao
authors: A
authors: Li
authors: Yuanyi
authors: Y
authors: Zheng
authors: Jinhong
authors: J
authors: Yu
authors: Zhigang
authors: Z
authors: Wang
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Yang
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Wu
authors: Dajing
authors: D
authors: Guo
authors: Haitao
authors: H
authors: Ran
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D004655:Emulsions / Q000737:chemistry; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000737:chemistry*; D006842:Hydrocarbons, Brominated; D008099:Liver; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D004655:Emulsions; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D006842:Hydrocarbons, Brominated; C003072:perflubron