1. Imaging of plaque cellular activity with contrast enhanced MRI
- Author
-
William, Kerwin
- Subjects
Contrast Media ,Humans ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,Biomarkers ,Plaque, Atherosclerotic - Abstract
A new horizon in imaging of atherosclerotic plaque is the use of contrast enhancing agents to investigate molecular and cellular markers. This chapter reviews the state of the art in contrast-enhanced imaging of atherosclerotic plaque. Topics include enhancement characteristics of different plaque tissues, modeling of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, and targeted contrast agents. For each topic, specific techniques for image acquisition and post-processing are presented. Quantitative results are summarized for experiments conducted with histological validation. Finally, potential applications of these techniques in detecting vulnerable lesions and in drug development are discussed.
- Published
- 2005