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Abstract

Despite of decade-long research, the quantification of insulin producing beta-cells in the pancreas is still not
ready for clinical application. Currently, no method exists that could either accurately or non-invasively determine the betacell mass in humans [1]. The quantification of beta-cells not only would allow to understand the pathophysiology of both type 1 and 2 diabetes in more detail, but also to identify pre-diabetic patients and to follow up cellular therapies (e.g. islettransplantations).
Several in vivo imaging approaches are being developed (e.g. fluorescence, positron emission tomography). But these methods have some inherent limitations (low depth in tissue penetration, ionizing radiation, low resolution). Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) on the other hand offers the advantages of using non-ionizing radiation and having a high spatial resolution. Here we present in vivo MRI of the mouse abdomen and pancreas at ultra high fields (16.4T) and the first attempt to visualize pancreatic islets with a newly developed beta-cell specific superparamagnetic
contrast agent based on a single chain antibody (kindly provided by PD Dr. S. Schneider, Bochum, Germany).