Gd-Containing Nanoparticles as MRI Contrast Agents

This chapter focuses on lipid-based gadolinium (Gd)-containing nanoparticles and covers the chemical structures of their building blocks as well as their overall design, preparation, characterization, and use in contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Options for lipid-based nanoparticles in multimodal imaging as well as image-guided therapeutic interventions are also described. Lipidic nanoparticles offer enormous design flexibility because nature has provided us with an immense variety of different lipid species. This allows fine-tuning of the physicochemical properties to the needs of the specific application. Some of the information in this chapter is specific to the presented range of nanoparticles. Most of the salient aspects of the magnetic properties of Gd-containing nanoparticles and their in vitro and in vivo applications in the broader sense can be well-illustrated with the use of this limited range of structures.