T. Kevin Hitchens1,2, Qing Ye1, Danielle F. Eytan1,2, Yijen L. Wu1, Jelena M. Janjic1,2, Eric T. Ahrens1,2, Chien Ho1,2
1Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; 2Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Cellular imaging is an emerging and important field in magnetic resonance. We are developing cellular MRI techniques for detecting rejection following organ transplantation and the selection of the appropriate contrast agent is necessary to achieve our goals. Several types of agents exist that provide fundamentally different image contrast. Our rat models of kidney and heart transplantation provide good systems to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of iron-oxide-based and 19F-based agents for detecting immune cells in vivo by MRI. Because each type of agent has different imaging properties, in many cases, iron-oxide- and 19F-based agents can provide complementary information.