Sensitive detection of in vivo traumatic brain injury foci using magnetic particle imaging.
4 affiliations
- 1Chemical Engineering, University of Florida, 1075 Center Dr, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA. [email protected].
- 2J. Crayton Pruitt Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, 1275 Center Dr, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA. [email protected].
- 3Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Florida, 1149 S Newell Dr, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
- 4Department of Psychiatry, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, 1149 S. Newell Dr, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
Abstract
Diagnosing traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a major clinical challenge, particularly for mild to moderate cases, due to the limited sensitivity of conventional imaging modalities like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) in detecting subtle cerebrovascular damage early after injury occurs. Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is a novel modality that offers high sensitivity, linear quantification, and unambiguous detection of superparamagnetic tracers such as iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). This study evaluates the capacity of MPI to detect and visualize cerebral bleeding resulting from TBI. A controlled cortical impact (CCI) closed-head TBI model was implemented using a calibrated electromagnetic impactor to induce moderate brain injury in C57BL/6 mice. IONPs were administered intravenously after impact, to mimic potential clinical use. CT-registered MPI images revealed strong, localized signals in the impact region of injured animals at early time points, while sham animals showed no residual signal in the brain. This localized signal decayed over time and eventually approached noise levels after 7 days post-injury. A direct comparison between MPI and -weighted MRI demonstrated that only MPI reliably differentiates the early injury foci at 24 hours. These results highlight the sensitivity and specificity of MPI as a potential diagnostic tool for detecting vascular disruption in TBI, offering a promising minimally invasive approach for early injury assessment. Additionally, these results demonstrate nanoparticle accumulation in sites of moderate TBI, highlighting potential theranostic applications of MPI to develop drug carriers suitable for treatment of TBI.
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BibTeX
@article{good2026sensitive,
title = {{Sensitive detection of in vivo traumatic brain injury foci using magnetic particle imaging.}},
author = {Hayden J Good and Mohammad Tabatabaei and Eiko Alzamora and Neel Eswaran and Sk Rajab Ali and Ambar C Velazquez-Albino and Zachary D Simon and Marcelo Febo and Lakiesha N Williams and Carlos M Rinaldi-Ramos},
journal = {Nanoscale},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1039/d6nr02497a},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42961301},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Sensitive detection of in vivo traumatic brain injury foci using magnetic particle imaging.
AU - Hayden J Good
AU - Mohammad Tabatabaei
AU - Eiko Alzamora
AU - Neel Eswaran
AU - Sk Rajab Ali
AU - Ambar C Velazquez-Albino
AU - Zachary D Simon
AU - Marcelo Febo
AU - Lakiesha N Williams
AU - Carlos M Rinaldi-Ramos
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/24
JO - Nanoscale
DO - 10.1039/d6nr02497a
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42961301
AB - Diagnosing traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a major clinical challenge, particularly for mild to moderate cases, due to the limited sensitivity of conventional imaging modalities like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) in detecting subtle cerebrovascular damage early after injury occurs. Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is a novel modality that offers high sensitivity, linear quantification, and unambiguous detection of superparamagnetic tracers such as iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). This study evaluates the capacity of MPI to detect and visualize cerebral bleeding resulting from TBI. A controlled cortical impact (CCI) closed-head TBI model was implemented using a calibrated electromagnetic impactor to induce moderate brain injury in C57BL/6 mice. IONPs were administered intravenously after impact, to mimic potential clinical use. CT-registered MPI images revealed strong, localized signals in the impact region of injured animals at early time points, while sham animals showed no residual signal in the brain. This localized signal decayed over time and eventually approached noise levels after 7 days post-injury. A direct comparison between MPI and -weighted MRI demonstrated that only MPI reliably differentiates the early injury foci at 24 hours. These results highlight the sensitivity and specificity of MPI as a potential diagnostic tool for detecting vascular disruption in TBI, offering a promising minimally invasive approach for early injury assessment. Additionally, these results demonstrate nanoparticle accumulation in sites of moderate TBI, highlighting potential theranostic applications of MPI to develop drug carriers suitable for treatment of TBI.
SN - 2040-3364
SN - 2040-3372
ER -