Proton relaxation enhancement.

Paramagnetic and superparamagnetic substances are used as contrast agents to enhance proton relaxation in magnetic resonance imaging. This review summarizes the physics of contrast agents, specifically the mechanisms by which contrast agents enhance T1 and T2 relaxation. The purpose is to provide a background for understanding the behavior of existing contrast agents in basic experimental and clinical studies. Terms such as magnetic dipole, dipole moment, magnetic susceptibility, diamagnetism, paramagnetism, superparamagnetism, and ferromagnetism are introduced. Two important interactions between the magnetic dipole moments of paramagnetic substances and the dipole moments associated with protons are described. The Solomon-Bloembergen-Morgan equations and other basic relaxation theory that has been confirmed experimentally are introduced to account for the dependence of relaxation on such parameters as the Larmor frequency, magnetic moment, accessibility of water molecules to the core of a contrast agent, and frequency of molecular motions.