Potential applicability of polyethyleneimine PEI-coated Eu2O3 and Dy2O3 nanoparticles for contrast enhancement in computed tomography

Contrast enhancement of soft tissues in Computed Tomography images

Even though soft tissues are of primary interest to radiologists, they are represented using only 12.5% of the total number of gray levels in a typical DICOM format of a Computed Tomography (CT) scan. This poor distribution of gray levels reduces the overall contrast and the texture differences between individual organs, and poses a serious visualization problem since radiologists need clear vi...

Lanthanide nanoparticles as vascular contrast agents for preclinical computed tomography

Introduction: Recent advances in nanotechnology have led to the development of vascular contrast agents for preclinical computed tomography (CT). The advantage of using nanoparticles is the ability to achieve prolonged residence times for preclinical CT, which can take tens of minutes; this is attained by polymer-coated nanoparticles exceeding 10 nm in size. Although long-circulating nanopartic...

Can Ultrasound With Contrast Enhancement Replace Nonenhanced Computed Tomography Scans in Patients With Contraindication to Computed Tomography Contrast Agents?

PURPOSE Our purpose is to determine the efficacy of ultrasound (US), with the addition of contrast enhancement (CEUS), in the identification and characterization of abdominal pathology compared with nonenhanced computed tomography (CT) scan (NECT). METHODS This prospective cohort study recruited 197 patients with NECT, the majority with renal failure, to have US, with addition of CEUS, if foc...

Antibiofouling polymer-coated gold nanoparticles as a contrast agent for in vivo X-ray computed tomography imaging.

Current computed tomography (CT) contrast agents such as iodine-based compounds have several limitations, including short imaging times due to rapid renal clearance, renal toxicity, and vascular permeation. Here, we describe a new CT contrast agent based on gold nanoparticles (GNPs) that overcomes these limitations. Because gold has a higher atomic number and X-ray absorption coefficient than i...

Contrast Enhanced Computed Tomography