Fluorine-19 MRI Contrast Agents for Cell Tracking and Lung Imaging

Fluorine-19 (F-19)-based contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging stand to revolutionize imaging-based research and clinical trials in several fields of medical intervention. First, their use in characterizing in vivo cell behavior may help bring cellular therapy closer to clinical acceptance. Second, their use in lung imaging provides novel noninvasive interrogation of the ventilated airspaces without the need for complicated, hard-to-distribute hardware. This article reviews the current state of F-19-based cell tracking and lung imaging using magnetic resonance imaging and describes the link between the methods across these fields and how they may mutually benefit from solutions to mutual problems encountered when imaging F-19-containing compounds, as well as hardware and software advancements.