title: Main applications of hybrid PET-MRI contrast agents: a review.
abstract: In medical imaging, the continuous quest to improve diagnostic performance and optimize treatment strategies has led to the use of combined imaging modalities. Positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) is a hybrid imaging existing already for many years. The high spatial and contrast resolution of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the high sensitivity and molecular information from PET imaging are leading to the development of this new hybrid imaging along with hybrid contrast agents. To create a hybrid contrast agent for PET-MRI device, a PET radiotracer needs to be combined with an MRI contrast agent. The most common approach is to add a radioactive isotope to the surface of a small superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) particle. The resulting agents offer a wide range of applications, such as pH variation monitoring, non-invasive angiography and early imaging diagnosis of atherosclerosis. Oncology is the most promising field with the detection of sentinel lymph nodes and the targeting of tumor neoangiogenesis. Oncology and cardiovascular imaging are thus major areas of development for hybrid PET-MRI imaging systems and hybrid contrast agents. The aim is to combine high spatial resolution, high sensitivity, morphological and functional information. Future prospects include the use of specific antibodies and hybrid multimodal PET-MRI-ultrasound-fluorescence imaging with the potential to provide overall pre-, intra- and postoperative patient care.
authors.affiliation: Neurofacial Imaging Unit, Department of Radiology, Rennes University Hospital, 2 rue H. Le Guilloux, 35033, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kiani
authors.affiliation: Neurofacial Imaging Unit, Department of Radiology, Rennes University Hospital, 2 rue H. Le Guilloux, 35033, Rennes, France.|VisAGeS U746 Unit/Project, INSERM/INRIA, IRISA, UMR CNRS 6074, University of Rennes 1, Beaulieu Campus, 35042, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Esquevin
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Eugène Marquis Center, avenue Bataille Flandres Dunkerque, 35042, Rennes, France.|INSERM UMR-S 991 Unit "Liver, Metabolisms and Cancer", University of Rennes 1, 2 rue H. Le Guilloux, 35033, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lepareur
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Eugène Marquis Center, avenue Bataille Flandres Dunkerque, 35042, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bourguet
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Eugène Marquis Center, avenue Bataille Flandres Dunkerque, 35042, Rennes, France.|EA 4712, "Behavior and Basal Ganglia", University of Rennes 1, 2 rue H. Le Guilloux, 35033, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Le Jeune
authors.affiliation: Neurofacial Imaging Unit, Department of Radiology, Rennes University Hospital, 2 rue H. Le Guilloux, 35033, Rennes, France.|VisAGeS U746 Unit/Project, INSERM/INRIA, IRISA, UMR CNRS 6074, University of Rennes 1, Beaulieu Campus, 35042, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Jy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gauvrit
mesh_terms: D003287:Contrast Media / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D005290:Ferric Compounds; C000499:ferric oxide
keywords: MRI; PET; contrast agent; hybrid; multimodal imaging