Mariska de
Smet1, Sander Langereis2, Roland van de Molengraaf2,
Edwin Heijman2, Nicole Hijnen1, Holger Gruell1,2
1Biomedical NMR, Eindhoven University of
Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands; 2Biomolecular Engineering,
Philips Research Eindhoven, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Temperature sensitive liposomes (TSL)
incorporating both a chemotherapeutic drug, i.e. doxorubicin, and a
clinically approved MRI contrast agent, [Gd(HPDO3A)(H2O)] were prepared and
evaluated for MR image guided drug delivery. A gel phantom was prepared containing spots
of agarose gel mixed with the liposomes. Before and after heating with High
Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), a T1 map was obtained with a Look-Locker
EPI-sequence. When heated above the phase transition temperature, the TSLs
showed a rapid release of both the drug and contrast agent. The spots with
liposomes which were heated with HIFU clearly showed a lower T1 after
ultrasound application.
Keywords