Table 4.

Summary on the application of MRI-IONPs in different types of diseases

Disease type	Diagnostics features	Reference
Cellular and structural visualization
Cancer	• Clinical imaging of liver and spleen tumor metastases through RES-mediated uptake of IONPs • Effective identification of lymph node metastases • Prolonged delineation of brain tumor boundaries and quantify tumor volumes • Imaging of CNS tumor neovasculature and assessing therapeutic response to antiangiogenic chemotherapeutic agents	(30)
Liver disease	Monitor Kupffer cell function using MR imaging in obstructive jaundice	(58)
Central nervous systems (CNS) disease imaging	• Diagnosis and staging of multiple sclerosis (MS) • MRI visualization of neuroinflammation in vivo • Monitoring of leukocyte (macrophage) trafficking in the brain	(16)
Autoimmune diseases	Monitor insulitis via imaging pancreatic inflammation for type 1 diabetes (T1D)	(16)
Cardiovascular disease	• SPION uptake by macrophages helps to visualize vascular inflammation in atherosclerotic plaques • Evaluation on the risk of ischemic stroke	(58,63)
Sepsis	Reactive oxygen species (ROS) tracking by imaging	(64)
Septic arthritis	Macrophage imaging helped to visualize knee infection	(58)
Osteomyelitis	Difference between infectious osteomyelitis and vertebral inflammation could be obtained	(58)
Cell tracking and cell therapy
Cancer	Autologous dendritic cells used as cancer vaccine was loaded with tumor antigen and labeled with SPION and 111In-oxide. It helped to visualize lymph node and vaccine administration in melanoma patient	(16)
Neuroinflammation	SPION labeled neural stem cells helped in the treatment and visualization of traumatic brain injury.	(16)
Autoimmune disease	SPION labeled pancreatic islet cells helped to investigate diabetes	(16)
Molecular imaging
Cancer	Allows sensitive and specific monitoring of key molecular targets Allows host's immune response at different stages of cancer	(68)