Jesus Pacheco-Torres1, Francisco Fernndez-Trillo2, Eduardo Fernndez-Mega2, Ricardo J. Riguera2, Paloma Ballesteros3, Pilar Lopez-Larrubia4, Sebastian Cerdan4
1Instituto de Investigaciones Biomdicas "Alberto Sols" - CSIC , Madrid, Spain; 2Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; 3Instituto Universitario de Investigacin - UNED, Madrid, Spain; 4Instituto de Investigaciones Biomdicas "Alberto Sols" - CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Although Magnetic Resonance Imaging methods inherently provide high intrinsic tissue contrast, the use of extrinsic contrast agents (CA's) has become a routine in many diagnostic imaging procedures. The paramagnetic lanthanide Gd(III) is used to increase locally the longitudinal relaxation rate of surrounding tissue water, highlighting the intensity of specific tissue areas in T1-weighted images. In this work we analyze the ability of a new family of Gd chelating derivatives to be used as CA's. Relaxivity measurements were made at clinical and high field showing a clear improvement in the relaxation properties of these structures related to those usually employed.