Abstract #0171

High-sensitivity in vivo Contrast Agent Imaging at Ultra-low Magnetic Fields with SPIONs

David Waddington^1,2,3, Thomas Boele^2,4, Richard Maschmeyer¹, Zdenka Kuncic^1,5, and Matthew Rosen^2,6,7

¹Institute of Medical Physics, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, ²A. A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States, ³ACRF Image X Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, ⁴ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, ⁵Sydney Nano Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, ⁶Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States, ⁷Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States

MRI scanners operating at ultra-low fields (ULF) promise to reduce the cost and expand the clinical accessibility of MRI. Here, we use a 6.5 mT MRI scanner and an efficient balanced steady-state free precession MRI protocol to image superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONS) in vivo by leveraging the extremely high magnetization of SPIONs at ULF. Further, we show how positive contrast imaging of SPIONs can be performed at ULF with susceptibility-based techniques. These advances overcome a key limitation of ULF MRI by enabling high-contrast in vivo imaging of clinically safe contrast agents with short acquisition times.

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