Leiden University Student Repository

Simon, Brecht (2016)

Influence of brain iron on the transverse relaxation rates in MRI

Bachelor thesis | Natuurkunde (BSc)

The possibly crucial role of the presence of iron nanoparticles in the humain brain, in neuronal diseases such as Alzheimers’ disease makes them interesting subjects for research. In magnetic resonance imaging, contrast arises due to the presence of such magnetic entities. In this report we address models that describe the mechanism behind this induced contrast, due to the presence of ferritin and magnetite nanoparticles. We have measured the transverse relaxation T2 and T 2 times using the MSME and MGE sequence. We found a linear decrease in both the relaxation times as a function of particle concentration. Concluded is that the relaxation of the magnetic nanoparticles is dominated by the diffusion of protons surrounding the magnetic nanoparticle, which is described by the motional averaging regime. We used Atomic Force Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy to characterize the sample.

MRI

relaxivity

iron nanoparticles

ferritin

magnetite

superparamagnetism

AFM

TEM

Author

Simon, Brecht

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Supervisors

Bossoni, Lucia

ECTS Credits

3

Language

en