Development of Novel MRI Contrast Agents

Medical resonance imaging (MRI) is sometimes performed using ionized gadolinium (Gd3+) as a contrast agent. As gadolinium is a nephrotoxin, it is important to use a chelating agent to prevent toxicity to the patient. Current chelating agents are available; however, they suffer from a lack of water solubility or by having a negative affect on water’s relaxivity rates. An ideal chelating agent binds well to Gd3+ while allowing it to simultaneously interact with individual water molecules. Our lab is developing a novel class of chelating agents containing carbamoylmethyl phosphine oxides (CMPO’s), which have the potential to be more soluble in water than current commercially available agents while retaining a favorable affect on water relaxivity