Multifunctional layered gadolinium hydroxide nanoplates for ultrahigh field magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography and fluorescence bioimaging.

The commonly used clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents are generally suitable for MR systems with a magnetic field less than 3.0 T. However, these agents show low contrast efficacy for MR systems with ultrahigh fields ≥ 7.0 T, which is the direction that next-generation MRI scanners are heading. A new contrast agent consisting of layered gadolinium hydroxide nanoplates doped with Ce and Tb (LGdH:Ce,Tb NPs) is presented herein. This material exhibits excellent negative (T2) contrast agent efficacy for 7.0 T MRI with a high r2/r1 ratio of 48.80, whereas it exhibits a lower r2/r1 ratio of 30.60 for 3.0 T MRI. Its performance as a T2 contrast agent in ultrahigh field MRI of subcutaneous liver tumor-bearing nude mice is investigated, demonstrating its ability to be used as a negative target T2 contrast agent to distinguish hepatic carcinoma from healthy tissues. Furthermore, the multifunctionality of the LGdH:Ce,Tb NPs as a contrast agent in X-ray computed tomography (CT) and fluorescence bioimaging is also presented, suggesting the possibility of integrating these imaging technologies for in-depth exploration of bioimaging.