Kumar R. Bhushan1, Elena Vinogradov2, Ananth J. Madhuranthakam3, Atshushi Takahashi4, John V. Frangioni1,2, Robert E. Lenkinski2
1Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; 2Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; 3Applied Science Laboratory, GE Healthcare, Boston, MA, USA; 4Applied Science Laboratory, GE Healthcare, Menlo Park, CA, USA
We have developed lanthanide-chelated bisphosphonate derivatives that are suitable MRI agents for imaging hydroxyapatite. An ultra-short echo time (UTE) sequence was used to image these agents in the environment of micro-calcification. We found that these compounds possess very high relaxivity in the adsorbed state. The combination of UTE and the newly developed MR agents demonstrate the successful high specificity and high sensitivity detection of calcified substances in vitro and in vivo. This study provides a foundation for the design and development of methods for high sensitivity MR detection of micro-calcifications within breast tumors.