The multivalent character of dendrimers has positioned these well-defined, highly branched macromolecules at the forefront in the development of new contrast agents for biomedical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). By modifying the periphery of the dendrimer with gadolinium(III) chelates, the relaxivity of the resulting MRI contrast agent is increased considerably, compared to low molecular weig...

Background Diffuse myocardial fibrosis is present in several cardiomyopathies. Contrast enhanced cardiac MR with T1 mapping enables quantification of diffuse fibrosis. T1 mapping is technically demanding since technical, physiological, and biochemical factors can interfere with T1 measurements. Contrast material dose, relaxivity, biodistribution, clearance, interaction with plasma proteins, and...

A simple one-step method for preparing biocompatible nanoparticles of gadolinium ferrocyanide coordination polymer KGd(H2O)2[Fe(CN)6]·H2O is reported. The crystal structure of this coordination polymer is determined by X-ray powder diffraction using the bulk materials. The stability, cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, and MR phantom and cellular imaging studies suggest that this coordination-polyme...

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has evolved into one of the most powerful techniques in diagnostic clinical medicine and biomedical research by enabling the acquisition of high resolution, three-dimensional images of the distribution of water in vivo (1). The strong expansion of medical MRI has prompted the development of a new class of pharmacological products, called contrast agents. These a...

Introduction: Recent advances in the development of targeted and smart molecular contrast agents have made it possible to detect cellular molecular events in vivo (1). Recently, convection-enhanced delivery (CED) has been proposed to deliver agents with very high specificity to the brain to detect glioblastoma multiforme, but the technique requires the detection of agent concentration differenc...

A new water-soluble gadolinium metallofullerenol was prepared through a solid-liquid reaction. It was characterized to have an enhanced effective magnetic moment, and improved T1-weighted relaxivity and magnetic resonance imaging performance in the liver. This material prepared by a facile method has wide application as a contrast agent and biological medicine.