Microwave-induced thermoacoustic computed tomography with a clinical contrast agent of NMG2[Gd(DTPA)]

NMG(2)[Gd(DTPA)], a clinical contrast agent, was investigated for microwave-induced thermoacoustic computed tomography (CT). Due to ionic conduction and magnetic dipole rotation in the presence of microwave field, microwave energy absorbed by NMG(2)[Gd(DTPA)] would be transformed to thermoacoustic signals based on the thermoelastic effect. The experimental results demonstrated that NMG(2)[Gd(DTPA)] at a concentration of 10mM provided effective enhancement compared with water. The enhancement of NMG(2)[Gd(DTPA)] for thermoacoustic CT was further demonstrated in in vivo tumor-bearing mouse. The theory and experimental results indicate that the clinically available NMG(2)[Gd(DTPA)] will promote the medical applications of thermoacoustic CT. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3678022]