Quantitative dynamic 19F MRI oximetry in a phantom simulating hypoxia

Introduction Tumor hypoxia is well known to reduce cancer treatment efficacy [1]. Hypoxic tumor cells, which have decreased oxygen levels (pO2), are more resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Dissolved oxygen influences the F magnetic resonance relaxation times of perfluorocarbons [2]. This property has been used in semiquantitative animal studies to image tumor oxygenation [3]. In this study a reproducible phantom which mimics oxygen consuming tissue is used for quantitative dynamic F MRI oximetry. The phantom consists of a hemodialysis filter of which the outer compartment is filled with a gelatin gel containing viable yeast cells [4]. The gelatin matrix was loaded with perfluorocarbon vesicles to simulate the absorption of perfluorocarbons in tissue from intravenous emulsions.