A Minimalist Iron Oxide Nanoprobe for the High‐Resolution Depiction of Stroke by Susceptibility‐Weighted Imaging

The precise mapping of collateral circulation and ischemic penumbra is crucial for diagnosing and treating acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Unfortunately, there exists a significant shortage of high-sensitivity and high-resolution in vivo imaging techniques to fulfill this requirement. Herein, a contrast enhanced susceptibility-weighted imaging (CE-SWI) using the minimalist dextran-modified Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@Dextran NPs) are introduced for the highly sensitive and high-resolution AIS depiction under 9.4 T for the first time. The Fe₃O₄@Dextran NPs are synthesized via a simple one-pot coprecipitation method using commercial reagents under room temperature. It shows merits of small size (hydrodynamic size 25.8 nm), good solubility, high transverse relaxivity (r₂) of 51.3 mM^-1s^-1 at 9.4 T, and superior biocompatibility. The Fe₃O₄@Dextran NPs-enhanced SWI can highlight the cerebral vessels readily with significantly improved contrast and ultrahigh resolution of 0.1 mm under 9.4 T MR scanner, enabling the clear spatial identification of collateral circulation in the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rat model. Furthermore, Fe₃O₄@Dextran NPs-enhanced SWI facilitates the precise depiction of ischemia core, collaterals, and ischemic penumbra post AIS through matching analysis with other multimodal MR sequences. The proposed Fe₃O₄@Dextran NPs-enhanced SWI offers a high-sensitivity and high-resolution imaging tool for individualized characterization and personally precise theranostics of stroke patients.