Ultra-wide range field-dependent measurements of the relaxivity of Gd1-xEuxVO4nanoparticle contrast agents using a mechanical sample-shuttling relaxometer.
The current trend for Magnetic Resonance Imaging points towards higher magnetic fields. Even though sensitivity and resolution are increased in stronger fields, T1 contrast is often reduced, and this represents a challenge for contrast agent design. Field-dependent measurements of relaxivity are thus important to characterize contrast agents. At present, the field-dependent curves of relaxivity are usually carried out in the field range of 0 T to 2 T, using fast field cycling relaxometers. Here, we employ a high-speed sample shuttling device to switch the magnetic fields experienced by the nuclei between virtually zero field, and the center of any commercial spectrometer. We apply this approach on rare-earth (mixed Gadolinium-Europium) vanadate nanoparticles, and obtain the dispersion curves from very low magnetic field up to 11.7 T. In contrast to the relaxivity profiles of Gd chelates, commonly used for clinical applications, which display a plateau and then a decrease for increasing magnetic fields, these nanoparticles provide maximum contrast enhancement for magnetic fields around 1-1.5 T. These field-dependent curves are fitted using the so-called Magnetic Particle (MP) model and the extracted parameters discussed as a function of particle size and composition. We finally comment on the new possibilities offered by this approach.
Departement de Chimie, Ecole Normale Superieure, PSL Research University, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, Laboratoire des Biomolecules (LBM), 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France.|Sorbonne Universites, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Ecole Normale Superieure, CNRS, Laboratoire des Biomolecules (LBM), Paris, France.|NIMBE, CEA-CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
Ching-Yu
CY
Chou
Laboratoire d'Optique et Biosciences, Ecole polytechnique, CNRS, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, 91128, Palaiseau, France.
Mouna
M
Abdesselem
Laboratoire d'Optique et Biosciences, Ecole polytechnique, CNRS, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, 91128, Palaiseau, France.
Cedric
C
Bouzigues
Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei, 115, ROC, Taiwan.
Minglee
M
Chu
NIMBE, CEA-CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
Angelo
A
Guiga
Institute of Biomedical Science, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei, 115, ROC, Taiwan.
Tai-Huang
TH
Huang
Departement de Chimie, Ecole Normale Superieure, PSL Research University, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, Laboratoire des Biomolecules (LBM), 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France.|Sorbonne Universites, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Ecole Normale Superieure, CNRS, Laboratoire des Biomolecules (LBM), Paris, France.
Fabien
F
Ferrage
Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée, Ecole polytechnique, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, 91128, Palaiseau, France.
Thierry
T
Gacoin
Laboratoire d'Optique et Biosciences, Ecole polytechnique, CNRS, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, 91128, Palaiseau, France.
Antigoni
A
Alexandrou
NIMBE, CEA-CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
Dimitris
D
Sakellariou