Method of magnetic resonance imaging
OwnerAtle Bjornerud, Lars Johanssoninventors
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Abstract
A method of MR imaging to monitor the status of any chronic and/or acute inflammatory disease, in particular to the use of MR imaging to monitor and assess the inflammatory response to organ transplants wherein a blood-pool MR contrast agent composition is administered.
Claims12
A method of monitoring inter-endothelial discontinuities caused by an inflammatory disease in a human or vascularized animal subject, which comprises administering into the vasculature of the said subject a blood-pool MR contrast agent composition, and monitoring the MR signal for an increase in enhancement in said inter-endothelial discontinuities following administration of said composition.
A method of detecting an indication of transplanted organ rejection which method comprises monitoring the MR signal from a transplanted organ in a vascularised human or non-human subject, following administration into the vasculature thereof of a blood-pool MR contrast agent composition, for a signal enhancement which is increased relative to that of the blood or of a non-transplanted vascularized tissue or organ, or which increases with time following the first pass of the agent through the transplant organ.
A method of generating enhanced images of a human or a vascularized animal subject previously administered with a blood-pool MR contrast agent composition, which method comprises generating an MR image of at least part of the inter-endothelial discontinuities of said body.
A method according to any of the previous claims wherein said blood-pool MR contrast agent composition comprises magnetic material optionally formulated with polymeric chelates, liposomes, carbohydrates, proteins, cascade polymers or dendrimer polymers.
A method according to any of the previous claims wherein said blood-pool MR contrast agent composition comprises magnetic metal oxide, especially a particulate superparamagnetic metal oxide.
A method according to any of the previous claims wherein said metal oxide is an ultra small superparamagnetic iron oxide.
A method according to any of the previous claims wherein the contrast agent composition comprises NC100150.
The use of a blood-pool MR contrast agent for the manufacture of a contrast agent composition for use in a method of diagnosis which involves MR monitoring the status of any chronic and/or acute inflammatory disease in a human or vascularized animal subject.
The use of a blood-pool contrast agent composition in MR imaging of at least part of a human or vascularized animal subject for monitoring inter-endothelial discontinuities caused by an inflammatory disease by monitoring the MR signal for an increase in enhancement in said inter-endothelial discontinuities following administration of said composition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.