Abstract #0104

Pagel M, Dong F, Marsh M, Dennis J

We have developed negatively-charged and charge-neutral PARACEST MRI agents to more accurately quantify the glycosaminoglycan content in cartilage. We can selectively detect a minimum CEST agent concentration of 2.8mM at a minimum 5% change in MR signal. The ratio of PARACEST agent concentrations that are simultaneously applied to healthy and GAG-depleted ex vivo rabbit cartilage samples correlated well with correlated with histopathological measurements. These results are being used to develop a single quantitative assessment of glycosaminoglycan content in cartilage during a single MRI scan session.