Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) have high potentials for a treatment of bone diseases. T2*w-MRI in combination with iron labeling of MSCs has shown promising results for the detection of therapeutic cells. However, this method is not applicable for the detection of MSCs in knee joints because both the iron labeled cells and bones produce a hypointense signal. We have shown that the SWIFT sequence overcomes this limitation and generates a distinct and quantifiable signal from iron labeled cells in a knee joint in vivo. Proposed protocol opens new opportunities for in vivo monitoring of cell therapy of bone disorders.
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