“…Because of the magnification effect at high field strengths, superparamagnetic nanoparticles can be used to track extremely small numbers of cells for up to several weeks. Previous studies have confirmed that stem cell traffic throughout the body can be noninvasively monitored in MRI by labeling cells with micrometer-sized iron oxide particles or superparamagnetic iron oxides (Mancardi, Saccardi et al 2001;Saiz, Carreras et al 2001;Daldrup-Link, Rudelius et al 2003;Saiz, Blanco et al 2004;Magnitsky, Watson et al 2005;Cheung, Chow et al 2006;Brekke, Williams et al 2007;Roberts, Price et al 2007;Suzuki, Yeung et al 2007;Arbab and Frank 2008;Kraitchman and Bulte 2008;Kraitchman, Gilson et al 2008;Kustermann, Himmelreich et al 2008;Mani, Adler et al 2008;Chapon, Jackson et al 2009;Yamada, Gurney et al 2009;Yang, Liu et al 2009;Drey, Ewert et al 2010;Flexman, Cross et al 2011;Jang, Ye et al 2011;Liu, Wang et al 2011). Yang et al have successfully tracked stem cells following administration to animals with myocardial infarction (MI) and showed that signal attenuation is observed at MI sites for the group of cases with MI (suggesting labeled cells accumulation), while no remarkable signal attenuation is observed for the sham group (Yang, Schumacher et al 2011).…”