Contrast Media

A PET-CT head and neck cancer scan showing various image reconstructions. The top left image is the separate CT scan showing the anatomy. The top right scan shows the fused PET and CT scans with false color added to help interpret the image. The bottom left scan is an initial FDG PET image showing tracer hot spots in the neck and a lymph node in the right jaw due to cancer. The right bottom image is a delayed enhancement scan showing tracer uptake over time, with normal hot spots in the bladder, kidneys, testicles and brain, which normally have higher metabolic activity. The low-grade gray shading of the anatomy is due to the normal cellular metabolism uptake of the FDG throughout the body. 

(a) High-resolution 3D MRI brain vascular map using SAIO. Various blood vessels in the rat brain can be visualized. In addition to clinically important brain vessels including anterior cerebral artery, middle cerebral artery, posterior cerebral artery, fine vessel structures as thin as ~ 100 microns in diameter can be clearly visualized. (b) 3D MRI brain vascular map using Dotarem (gadolinium-based contrast agent). Resolution is low and microvessels are not visible. (c) For 3D reconstruction, multiple slices of MRI images of the rat heart were obtained after injection of SAIO. Rat coronary arteries (180 microns) which are 10 times thinner than human coronary arteries were successfully visualized. Coronary arteries supply blood to the heart muscle and the blockage or narrowing of such arteries causes myocardial infarction or angina, but visualizing these arteries was impossible due to the limited resolution of current MRI contrast agents. Image courtesy of Institute for Basic Science