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25 April 2024 | Stuttgart

Diamond dust shines bright in Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Potential alternative to widely used contrast agent gadolinium

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Dr. Jelena Lazovic Zinnanti (right) and a colleague working with MRI
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An unexpected discovery surprised a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart: nanometer-sized diamond particles, which were intended for a completely different purpose, shone brightly in a magnetic resonance imaging experiment – much brighter than the actual contrast agent, the heavy metal gadolinium. Could diamond dust – in addition to its use in drug delivery to treat tumor cells – one day become a novel contrast agent used for MRI? The research team now published their discovery in Advanced Materials.