Applications of magnetic particle imaging in the dementias

Abstract

Purpose of review This review discusses recent developments in the application of magnetic particle imaging (MPI) to dementia research. Recent findings MPI is a tracer method that is currently in the preclinical development stage. It provides high sensitivity for the detection and localization of magnetic nanoparticles with very high spatial and temporal resolution and a similar application spectrum as PET. Unlike MRI, the MPI signal is not contaminated by background signal from tissues and is highly quantifiable in terms of local tracer concentrations. These properties make the technology ideally suited for localization of specific targets or quantification of vascular parameters. MPI uses magnetic nanoparticles which can be modified by various coatings, and by adding ligands (i.e. peptides or antibodies) for specific targeting. This makes MPI an attractive tool for the potential detection of abnormal protein deposits, such as Aβ plaques, with greater specificity than MRI. Neural stem cells can also be labelled with these nanoparticles ex vivo to monitor their migration in vivo. Summary The capabilities of MPI opens the potential for several applications of MPI in neurocognitive disorders, including vascular imaging, detection of amyloid plaques and potentially other pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease and stem-cell tracking.

Alzheimer's Disease: Status of Low‐Dimensional Nanotherapeutic Materials

“…They exhibit a high relative effectiveness in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for this purpose. [123][124][125] With SPIONs aggregated at the center of the ABC/SPION/siSOX9 NPs (Table 1), the transplantation sites and migration paths of the neural stem cell (NSC) could be easily tracked via MRI. [126] The nanoparticles (NPs) have been demonstrated to enhance the differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) into neurons induced by retinoic acid (RA), through the downregulation of the SOX9 gene expression using RNAi (Figure 1A).…”

“…They exhibit a high relative effectiveness in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for this purpose. [ 123–125 ]…”

Magnetic Particle Imaging: From Tracer Design to Biomedical Applications in Vasculature Abnormality

“…It is worth mentioning that several review articles have been published over the last three years, [45][46][47][48] most of which focused on a particular aspect of MPI, such as the instrumentation [49] or specific applications. [50][51][52][53][54][55] This article provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of MPI, including the most recent reports in tracer design and vascular abnormality imaging.…”