Qingwei Liu1, Morgan B. Giers2, Alex McLaren3, Christopher S. Estes3, Michael R. Caplan4, Gregory H. Turner1, Ryan Y. McLemore3
1Neuroimaging Research, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States; 2Harrington Department of BioMedical Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States; 3Orthopaedic Residency, Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ, United States; 4School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
Periprosthetic infection is a devastating complication of joint replacement. Traditional local delivery experiments have been explored In Vitro, but it is more important to study actual drug distribution in vivo. In this study, we used contrast enhanced MR imaging to track the delivery of small molecules through the complex delivery environment of bone, local tissues, and local blood flow. The elution of Gd marked drugs was observed after the surgery, which clearly showed continuous delivery of drugs in the tissue. The MRI T1 map technique was proved to be able to track the distribution of antibiotics in orthopaedic wounds.
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