Abstract #2488

Monitoring Degradation of Implantable Drug Delivery Devices Using MR Relaxation & Diffusion Imaging

Josh M. Bray^1,2, Mark Filiaggi³, Chris V. Bowen^1,4, Steven D. Beyea^1,4

¹Institute for Biodiagnostics (Atlantic), National Research Council Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; ²Dept. of Physics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; ³School of Biomedical Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; ⁴Depts of Physics, & Radiology, School of Biomedical Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Biodegradable ceramics offer considerable advantages as drug delivery devices, as they require no secondary surgery and their microstructure may be modified to control the rate of local delivery of the therapeutic agent. The current work reports on the use of high resolution mapping of T1 and T2 relaxation times as well as ADC in gelled calcium polyphosphate bioceramics, in an attempt to develop an improved mechanistic understanding of their drug release characteristics.