Off-resonance saturation as a means of generating contrast with superparamagnetic nanoparticles

This work demonstrates an alternative approach, termed off resonance saturation (ORS), for generating contrast that is sensitive to superparamagnetic particles. This method leads to a calculated contrast that increases with superparamagnetic nanoparticle concentration. Experimental data demonstrate that in the presence of superparamagnetic particles, an off-resonance effect exists that is distinct from the magnetization transfer (MT) effect and is highly dependent on diffusion. Data show that the dependence on water diffusion becomes most significant at rates of 0.5 x 10(-9) m(2)/s and slower. We investigated the dependence of the off-resonance effect on off-resonance frequency and particle concentration. The data suggest a useful frequency offset range of 500 Hz < vertical bar Delta omega vertical bar < 1500 Hz at 3T. This approach may be especially useful in organs and diseases in which diffusion may be altered by pathologies.