TY - JOUR A1 - Lawaczeck, R. A1 - Menzel, Michael A1 - Pietsch, H. T1 - Superparamagnetic iron oxide particles: contrast media for magnetic resonance imaging N2 - The mainstream magnetic iron oxide particles used as contrast media for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging are composed of a magnetic iron oxide core surrounded by a dextran or carboxydextran coat. The core size ranges from 2 nm to less than 10 nm, and the hydrodynamic diameter ranges from 20 nm to about 120 nm. The coat prevents aggregation and sedimentation of the particles in aqueous solutions, achieves high biological tolerance, and prevents toxic side effects. Two kinds of particles are considered: (i) large particles (>30 nm), called superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (SPIOs) for liver imaging; (ii) smaller particles (<30 nm hydrodynamic diameter), called ultrasmall SPIOs (USPIOs), e.g. for MR angiography. To characterize the particles, Mössbauer spectra are presented for the two particle ensembles. These spectra allow insight into the magnetic coupling, the valency of the iron ions and a rough estimate of the core size to be deduced. On the basis of the concentration dependence of the MR signal intensities, two applications are discussed together with two representative clinical examples. KW - Superparamagnetic KW - Iron oxide particles KW - MR imaging KW - Contrast media PY - 2004 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/aoc.753 SN - 0268-2605 SN - 1099-0739 VL - 18 SP - 506 EP - 513 PB - Longman CY - Harlow AN - OPUS4-4580 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -