A Novel One-Pot Synthesis of PVP-Coated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles as Biocompatible Contrast Agents for Enhanced T2-Weighted MRI

Abstract

A contrast agent with specific characteristics is essential for high-quality magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It plays a crucial role in enhancing the visibility of certain tissues and structures, making it imperative for diagnostic procedures. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have emerged as a promising alternative to traditional contrast agents for MRI due to their non-toxicity and superior magnetic properties. However, a suitable surface coating strategy is needed to produce polymer-coated SPIONs with controllable sizes in order to enhance their stability and biocompatibility. This study presents a novel one-pot synthesis method for the production of highly stable polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-coated SPIONs. By systematically manipulating the physicochemical properties of SPIONs, the effect of different molecular weights of PVP was studied. The results showed that SPIONs coated with PVP with molecular wight 40,000 g/mol (40 K) exhibited a high magnetization (Ms = 48.4 emu/g), an average size distribution (11.61 nm), and excellent stability. The relaxivity of coated and uncoated SPIONs was investigated using MRI images. The results revealed that the (r2/r1) ratio of PVP40K-SPIONs was 72.55, compared to 55.72 for the bare SPIONs, making them a highly promising T2-contrast agent for future development of MRI applications. This study opens new avenues for the development of biocompatible and stable SPIONs for improved medical diagnostic and imaging.

Cobalt Iron Oxide (CoFe2O4) Nanoparticles Induced Toxicity in Rabbits

“…In vivo, MRI results exhibited a strong contrast of the liver and stomach, indicating that CIONPs may play a significant role, even at low-field MRI units, in diagnostic modality to identify diseases of organs in the body. Contrast agent choice is based on the relaxivity ratio r 2 /r 1 , which can be enhanced depending on the size, charge concentration, and field strength [ 24 , 64 , 65 , 66 ]. T 1 relaxation seems to be a little faster in the liver than in the spleen based on relaxivity, and T 2 relaxation also appears to be slightly faster in the liver than in the spleen [ 39 ].…”

“…At the MRI level, the relaxation durations, T 1 (spin–lattice relaxation, longitudinal) and T 2 (spin–spin relaxation, transverse), are both effected by the quantity of protons in water molecules [ 19 , 23 ] that interact magnetically and the nanoparticles’ Ms value. To minimize the relaxation time parameter following tissue differentiation, various relocation speed limitations for tissues and contrast agents are applied [ 23 , 24 ]. At a normal temperature, cobalt nanoparticles have a substantially greater Ms value than iron oxides, which might result in a stronger influence on proton relaxation.…”

Bionic Artificial Neural Networks in Medical Image Analysis

“…Preprocessing improves the quality and relevance of the images by removing noise, enhancing contrast [ 12 ], and segmenting the regions of interest. Registration [ 13 ] aligns and merges multiple images of the same patient or anatomical region to enable accurate comparisons and analyses.…”