A new polysaccharide cardiac interface agent could provide radiologists with a less toxic, more bioavailable alternative when performing MRI scans for closed blood vessels.
In a study published on March 8 in Nature Biomedical Engineering, researchers from the Institute for Basic Science discussed their new nanoparticle-based MRI interface agent for 3D vascular imaging – Supramolecular Amorphous Iron Oxide (SAIO). It collapses as a result of continuous efforts to create iron-based paramagnetic nanoparticles that can cleanse the kidneys and not accumulate in the liver or other organs.
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It is a next-generation interface agent that delivers high resolution and safety at the same time, said Jinwoo Cheon, Ph.D., director of the Institute of Basic Science (IBS) Center for Nanomedicine at Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea.
“SAIO is expected to play a critical role in increasing the accuracy of diagnosis of cerebro-cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke, myocardial infarction, angina, and depression,” said Byoung Wook Choi, MD, professor from the College of Medicine Yonsei University.
According to the researchers, SAIO has a number of properties, which are stable without accumulation and melt without iron for up to a year, which could be an attractive alternative to gadolinium. At 5 nanometers in size, it is about 1,500 times smaller than the microvascular diameter, allowing it to circulate more easily throughout the body, they said. It is also composed mainly of dextran cross-linking with other molecules, and the iron oxide coating on its polysaccharide core gives it paramagnetic properties at room temperature.
For their study, the team compared interface performance, retention, and renal cleansing image for SAIO to Dotarem, a gadolinium-based interface agent, as well as iron oxide nanoparticles. Based on their analysis, they found that SAIO offers very high resolution images – its images are 10-times more detailed than those produced by conventional image producers. In animal experiments, it provides 3D brain tissue mapping that can identify microbial vessels in the brain as thin as hair – 100 microns. An increase also lasts much longer with SAIO than with Dotarem – more than 10 minutes versus less than 2 minutes, respectively, Choi said.
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With these capabilities, Cheon and Choi said, SAIO can not only give radiologists enough time to perform imaging procedures, but it can also allow suppliers and researchers to see heart blood vessels that are currently difficult to see with conventional MRI interface representations.
From the patient’s perspective, they said, SAIO is an attractive alternative because it easily clears the kidneys without accumulating in the liver of the spleen.
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