New materials designed at OSU represents breakthrough in medical imaging | Newsroom

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Scientists at Oregon State University have filed a patent on a design for a brand new magnetic resonance imaging distinction agent with the potential to outperform present brokers whereas being much less poisonous to sufferers and extra environmentally pleasant.

The new materials is predicated on a construction referred to as a metal-organic framework or MOF, whose growth within the Nineteen Nineties earned this yr’s Nobel Prize for chemistry as MOFs’ many doable makes use of change into more and more obvious.

MOFs are made up of positively charged metallic ions surrounded by natural “linker” molecules. They have nanosized pores and may be designed with quite a lot of parts that decide the MOF’s properties.

Researchers led by Kyriakos Stylianou of the OSU College of Science say their novel manganese-based MOF, which they named BVR-19, is a promising different to at the moment used distinction brokers primarily based on gadolinium. BVR is an abbreviation for beaver, OSU’s mascot.

A distinction agent, additionally known as a distinction medium, is a substance that enhances the visibility of tissues throughout medical imaging. Globally, the MRI contrast agent industry has an estimated worth of greater than $1.5 billion and is anticipated to develop by $750 million over the following 5 years amid rising demand for non-invasive diagnostic procedures.

Gadolinium is a uncommon earth aspect that comes with issues relating to toxicity to sufferers, potential hurt to the atmosphere, and provide chain points on condition that China accounts for most of the uncommon earth reserves and far of the processing and manufacturing capability.

Manganese, nevertheless, is plentiful within the earth’s crust. In addition to being utilized in making batteries, metal and ceramics, manganese is important for human well being in hint quantities, taking part in roles in antioxidation, bone formation and the metabolism of cholesterols, carbohydrates and amino acids.

“BVR-19 represents a paradigm shift in MRI contrast agent design,” mentioned Stylianou, who directs the OSU’s Materials Discovery Laboratory, or MaD Lab. “We’re replacing toxic metals with abundant, biocompatible ones, without compromising performance.”

Gadolinium has been utilized in distinction brokers for practically 40 years, he mentioned. The physique doesn’t metabolize the distinction brokers, so that they cross practically unchanged into wastewater programs and are immune to degradation in remedy vegetation. Their long-term ecotoxicological results not effectively understood.

There can be threat, Stylianou mentioned, from gadolinium retention in the body. Most brokers are designed to be excreted inside 24 hours of administration, however even in sufferers with regular kidney perform, gadolinium can keep in tissues for months or years. Retention hasn’t been conclusively linked to illness, however the Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings and requires affected person training due to uncertainty relating to long-term penalties.

BVR-19 is the primary manganese-based MOF to include L-cystine, a naturally occurring, biocompatible amino acid, Stylianou mentioned. Its synthesis takes place in water at room temperature, no poisonous solvents or different harsh circumstances are required, and assessments present that it permits for brighter, clearer photographs at decrease doses than required of present commercially accessible brokers.

“This work underscores OSU’s leadership in designing functional MOFs for medical and environmental applications and demonstrates how green chemistry and materials design can converge to create safer technologies,” he mentioned. “It bridges chemistry, toxicology and medicine, showing how collaboration across disciplines can transform fundamental discoveries into technologies that directly improve human health.”

Doctoral scholar Jacob Lessard and undergraduate Dylan Pyle have been first authors of the examine, which was published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry B. Other contributing members of the MaD Lab have been postdoctoral fellow Andrzej Gladysiak, doctoral scholar Emmanuel Musa and undergraduate Jeff Bowen.

The collaboration additionally included Robyn Tanguay, Lisa Truong and Siva Kolluri of the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences and Cory Wyatt of Oregon Health & Science University.

Funding was offered by OHSU and the OSU Research Academy.