Iron embedded magnetic nanodiamonds for in vivo MRI contrast enhancement

Although nanodiamonds have long being considered as a potential tool for biomedical research, the practical in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) application of nanodiamonds remains relatively unexplored. In this paper, we present the first application of in vivo MRI contrast enhancement using only iron embedded magnetic nanodiamonds. An MR image enhancement was clearly demonstrated in the rendering of T2-weighted images of mice obtained using an unmodified commercial MRI scanner. The excellent contrast obtained using these nanodiamonds opens the door to the non-invasive in vivo tracking of nanodiamonds and image enhancement. In the future, one can apply these magnetic nanodiamonds together with surface modifications to facilitate drug delivery, targeted therapy, localized thermal treatment, and diagnostic imaging.