The accredited biomarker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) offers limited sensitivity and specificity in the early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To improve the screening performance, des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) has been identified as another promising biomarker of HCC, combined with AFP biomarkers. The results of the commercial optical enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit easily have the interference problem due to the optical methodology. The immunomagnetic reduction (IMR) assay based on the magnetic measurement was utilized to assay DCP biomarkers without the excellent antiinterference performances. A DCP magnetic reagent, composed of iron-oxide (Fe3O4 ) magnetic nanoparticles coated with anti-DCP antibodies solved in phosphoryl-buffer solution, was synthesized and characterized. In the test of standard DCP antigens, superior antiinterference and sensitivity than optical ELISA were proved. In the animal test, the results indicate good agreement between the IMR assay findings and the tumor sizes of HCC rats at all time points after the HCC implantation. The feasibility of the developed DCP magnetic reagent with the IMR for the detection of DCP is verified, and demonstrates the high potential for future clinical applications.

This work reports an enhanced polarization and mechanisms in optically pumped (OP) hyperpolarized 3 He in the presence of 4 He. The cells contain Rb metal, 60-torr N 2 , and different pressures of 3 He and 4 He. In the absence of 4 He, the polarization of 3 He increases monotonically from 4.5% to 8% when the pressure of 3 He is increased from 300 to 1500 torr. In the presence of 1850-torr 4 He gas, the polarization of 3 He is enhanced from 7% to 30% for a cell containing 600-torr 3 He and 60-torr N 2 . The wall relaxation factors X for OP cells with and without buffering 4 He gas were derived. It was found that the 4 He gas confines the 3 He atoms to a diffusion-limited region which effectively reduces the wall relaxation factor X. Mechanisms contributed to relaxation are addressed and discussed.

Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasonography (US), is a popular medical imaging technique for diagnosing liver tumors. However, the specificity of US in discriminating liver tumors from other liver lesions is limited. Although microbubble contrast agents (CAs) can improve the specificity, using them yields inadequate sensitivity and spatial resolution. To locate liver tumors accurately, patients are subsequently imaged using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and superparamagnetic CAs, including iron-oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). The diagnosis is better for patients by the instrument integrating US and magnetic technologies, rather than by administering different types of CAs with the healthy and cost loading. Hence, on the basis of the utility of MNP CAs in MRI, a US system and a magnetic type of the rotational-scanning superconducting-quantum-interferencedevice biosusceptometry were integrated in this study. In a phantom test, a magnetic image of the MNP distribution showed good agreement with an optical photo. In an animal test, the tumor location was confirmed with the same results of magnetic and US images. Test results regarding the proposed platform indicated that US probes are compatible with magnetic methodologies and, thus, can be used to enhance the performance of tumor diagnosis and reduce the cost and healthy loading of patients.Index Terms-Alpha fetoprotein, magnetic nanoparticle (MNP), scanning SQUID biosusceptometer, superconducting-quantuminterference device (SQUID), ultrasound imaging.