Design and Application of Micellar Magnetic Resonance Imaging Molecular Probe

Abstract

Molecular imaging plays an increasingly important role in the early diagnosis and detection of tumors. As a significant branch of molecular imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows incomparable advantages and broad development prospects than other imaging technologies. It requires no radioactive tracer, no ionizing radiation, but presents high spatial and temporal resolution and tissue contrast. In recent years, a series of progress has been made in the research and development of new magnetic resonance molecular probes and imaging sequences, including responsive molecular probes, 19F MRI, hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI, and chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging, which have expanded the application range of MRI. One crucial research in MRI development is to further improve sensitivity. Therefore, the research of new multimodal MRI contrast agents with good targeting capacity, high relaxation efficiency and high safety is an important topic in the current biomedical engineering field. For example, the sensitivity of MRI molecular probes could be improved by combining the characteristics of micelles with some new magnetic resonance methods. Some deficiencies of MRI could be overcome by introducing multimodal molecular probes. This article reviews the research progress and application analysis of the core technology of micellar MRI molecular probes, and elucidates the importance of molecular imaging technology in biomedical engineering research and clinical diagnosis.

Keywords

• molecular imaging technology
• magnetic resonance imaging (mri)
• multimodal imaging
• molecular probes
• micelles