Figure 1.

MRI of human plasma clots treated with fibrin targeted perfluorocarbon nanoparticles formulated with either Gd-DTPA-BOA (a) or Gd-DTPA-PE (b) as the imaging contrast agent. The Gd-DTPA-BOA nanoparticles increased the R1 value at the clot surface by 48%, while the Gd-DTPA-PE particles increased the R1 by 72%. The improved relaxation effect was not a result of increased binding of the Gd-DTPA-PE particles to the clot surface, since both agents produced identical gadolinium levels on the clot samples: 0.22 ± 0.01 μmol Gd³⁺ for Gd-DTPA-BOA particles and 0.22 ± 0.02 μmol Gd³⁺ for Gd-DTPA-PE particles. Reprinted with permission from [39].