F-19-MRI of perfluorononane as a novel contrast modality for gastrointestinal imaging

F-19-Magnetic resonance imaging in conjunction with perfluorononane provide s a new modality for gastrointestinal (GI) imaging as is demonstrated here with an animal model. Perfluorononane was found to be an ideal oral contras t agent since it is biologically inert, immiscible with water, and since it has a low viscosity and surface tension. Furthermore, its high fluorine co ntent, together with the high sensitivity of F-19-MRI, allowed highly selec tive MR images of the GI tract of mice to be acquired. Due to the lack of F -19 background signals, the contrast of the GI tract was only limited by th e signal-to-noise ratio of the F-19-MR images. F-19-RARE images of 1-mm sli ces with an in-plane resolution of 0.23 x 0.23 mm(2) were obtained from the GI tract after oral perfluorononane administration. The passage of perfluo rononane through the entire GI tract was monitored by repetitive MR measure ments with a maximal time resolution of 38 s. The three-dimensional surface s of the GI tract were reconstructed and superimposed on corresponding H-1- MR images, which provided complementary anatomical information. Magn Reson Med 41:80-86, 1999. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.