ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the wide range of chemical and biological applications that exist for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. Contrast agent enhanced MRI is an invaluable tool to the diagnosis of cancer and many other diseases, and recently in molecular imaging of experimental animals. The development of new contrast agents, improved pulse sequences, and hardware is evolving MRI into one of the leading modalities for cancer diagnosis. Imaging of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is an area aided by MRI contrast agents. Superparamagnetic iron oxide agents have been used to image the GI tract and assess ulcerative colitis. Contrast agent enhanced MRI is a valuable resource in the study of diseases related to the skeletal system. The chapter begins with a description of the targeted delivery of contrast agents including how they bind to and accumulate in specific biological tissues.
