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Medical imaging

Colourful future for MRI

Nature volume 453, pages 993–994 (2008)Cite this article

Following multiple physiological variables or cell types in vivo requires specific probes. Microfabricated magnetic particles could produce such tuneable contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging.

Optical imaging routinely uses multicoloured contrast agents ranging from traditional chemical dyes and fluorophores to specially engineered quantum dots. In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), contrast agents have also proved extremely useful, but their effects are largely indistinguishable from one another, leading to essentially monochrome contrast based on increased or decreased signal strength. Now Zabow and colleagues (page 1058 of this issue1) are bringing 'colour' to MRI. They have developed an approach to produce MRI contrast agents with characteristic spectral signals, based on the control of mechanical structures. Different versions of these probes can be used simultaneously, and are distinguishable by the geometry-dependent spectral 'colour' of their signals.

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Figure 1: Particulate contrast agents.

References

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  1. Richard Bowtell is at the Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK. richard.bowtell@nottingham.ac.uk,

    Richard Bowtell

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  1. Richard Bowtell
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Bowtell, R. Colourful future for MRI. Nature 453, 993–994 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/453993a

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