Quantitative magnetic resonance fluorine imaging: Today and tomorrow

Abstract

Fluorine (19F) is a promising moiety for quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It possesses comparable magnetic resonance (MR) sensitivity to proton (1H) but exhibits no tissue background signal, allowing specific and selective assessment of the administrated 19F-containing compounds in vivo. Additionally, the MR spectra of 19F-containing compounds exhibited a wide range of chemical shifts (>200 ppm). Therefore, both MR parameters (e.g., spin-lattice relaxation rate R1) and the absolute quantity of molecule can be determined with 19F MRI for unbiased assessment of tissue physiology and pathology. This article reviews quantitative 19F MRI applications for mapping tumor oxygenation, assessing molecular expression in vascular diseases, and tracking labeled stem cells. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.