Abstract #0449

Positive Contrast for Imaging of Receptor Targeted Magnetic Nanoparticles in the Orthotopic Pancreatic Cancer Xenograft Model using Ultrashort Echo Time MRI

Liya Wang^1,2, Xiaodong Zhong³, Weiping Qian⁴, Hongwei Chen^1,2, Lily Yang⁴, Hui Mao^1,2

¹Radiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA; ²Center for Systems Imaging, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; ³MR R&D Collaborations, Siemens Healthcare, Atlanta, GA, USA; ⁴Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

The method of ultrashort echo time (UTE) imaging was developed and tested for obtaining positive?contrast from receptor targeted magnetic nanoparticle MRI probes in molecular imaging of pancreatic tumors in animal models. This work demonstrated that UTE imaging may overcome the limitation of negative contrast?or signal reduction from T2 or T2* weighted methods typically used for imaging of magnetic nanoparticle contrast agents.