Tessa Geelen1, Leonie E. Paulis1,
Bram F. Coolen1, Klaas Nicolay1, Gustav J. Strijkers1
1Biomedical NMR, Department
of Biomedical Engineering,
The aim of this study was to assess the circulation and extravasation kinetics of paramagnetic micelles and liposomes with T1-weighted MRI and evaluate their ability to report on infarct status after acute mouse cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury. Directly after administration of micelles and liposomes, circulating contrast agents caused higher MRI signal intensities in the remote myocardium as compared to the infarct area, likely reporting on reduced perfusion of the infarcted myocardium. At later time points micelles and liposomes extravasated in the infarcted myocardium, leading to hyperenhancement of the infarction, enabling assessment of the infarct size.