development of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for advanced mri contrast enhancement

The present study is devoted to the development of a new magnetic resonance contrast agent based on superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles. the aim of the study is to create a contrast agent with improved characteristics compared to existing analogues. the process of obtaining includes two main stages such as the formation of the embryo and the growth of particles by aggregation. the size of the nanoparticles was controlled to achieve superparamagnetism. the concentration of iron in the solution was determined by x-ray fluorescence analysis. the phase composition was confirmed by x-ray phase analysis. transmission electron microscopy and proton relaxometry were employed to evaluate the obtained solutions. the study showed that the optimal concentration of superparamagnetic nanoparticles in an aqueous solution is 0.5 mg/ml. the relaxation abilities of the synthesized particles were determined: for superparamagnetic particles (5-8 nm) - t ≈: 12.1 l/(mmol·s), t ≈: 30.1 l/(mmol·s); for ferrimagnetic particles (30-50 nm) - t ≈: 3.2 l/(mmol·s), t ≈: 35 l/(mmol·s). the cytotoxicity of the obtained nanoparticles was evaluated using an mtt test on fibroblast cells. it was found that at concentrations lower than 0.5 mg/ml, the particles do not exhibit a toxic effect on normal fibroblast cells. the research results demonstrate the feasibility of creating a new contrast agent for mr tomography based on synthesized nanoparticles of complex iron oxide. the developed contrast agent outperforms existing analogues in its characteristics and shows promising results in terms of biocompatibility.