19F-MRI of perfluorononane as a novel contrast modality for gastrointestinal imaging

F-19-Magnetic resonance imaging in conjunction with perfluorononane provides a new modality for gastrointestinal (GI) imaging as is demonstrated here with an animal model. Perfluorononane was found to be an ideal oral contrast agent since it is biologically inert, immiscible with water, and since it has a low viscosity and surface tension. Furthermore, its high fluorine content, together with the high sensitivity of F-19-MRI, allowed highly selective MR images of the GI tract of mice to be acquired. Due to the lack of F-19 background signals, the contrast of the GI tract was only limited by the signal-to-noise ratio of the F-19-MR images. F-19-RARE images of 1-mm slices with an in-plane resolution of 0.23 x 0.23 mm(2) were obtained from the GI tract after oral perfluorononane administration. The passage of perfluorononane through the entire GI tract was monitored by repetitive MR measurements with a maximal time resolution of 38 s. The three-dimensional surfaces of the GI tract were reconstructed and superimposed on corresponding H-1-MR images, which provided complementary anatomical information. Magn Reson Med 41:80-86, 1999. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.