Abstract
MRI has been recognized as one of the most applied medical imaging techniques in clinical practice. However, the presence of background signal coming from water protons in surrounding tissues makes sometimes the visualization of local contrast agents difficult. To remedy this, fluorine has been introduced as a reliable perspective, thanks to its magnetic properties being relatively close to those of protons. In this review, we aim to give an overall description of fluorine incorporation in contrast agents for MRI. The different kinds of fluorinated probes such as perfluorocarbons, fluorinated dendrimers, polymers and paramagnetic probes will be described, as will their imaging applications such as chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging, physico-chemical changes detection, drug delivery, cell tracking and inflammation or tumors detection.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors would like to acknowledge the FNRS, the ARC, the Walloon Region (Gadolymph, Holocancer and Interreg projects), the Interuniversity Attraction Poles of the Belgian Federal Sciences Policy Office and the COST actions. The authors also thank the Center for Microscopy and Molecular Imaging (CMMI, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and Wallonia). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.