A Facile NMR Method for Pre‐MRI Evaluation of Trigger‐Responsive T₁ Contrast Enhancement

There is a growing interest in developing paramagnetic nanoparticles as responsive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents, which feature switchable T 1 image contrast of water protons upon biochemical cues for better discerning diseases. However, performing an MRI is pragmatically limited by its cost and availability. Hence, a facile, routine method for measuring the T 1 contrast is highly desired in early‐stage development. This work presents a single‐point inversion recovery (IR) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method that can rapidly evaluate T 1 contrast change by employing a single, optimized IR pulse sequence that minimizes water signal for “off‐state” nanoparticles and allows for sensitively measuring the signal change with “switch‐on” T 1 contrast. Using peptide‐induced liposomal gadopentetic acid (Gd 3+ ‐DTPA) release and redox‐sensitive manganese oxide (MnO 2 ) nanoparticles as a demonstration of generality, this method successfully evaluates the T 1 shortening of water protons caused by liposomal Gd 3+ ‐DTPA release and Mn 2+ formation from MnO 2 reduction. Furthermore, the NMR measurement is highly correlated to T 1 ‐weighted MRI scans, suggesting its feasibility to predict the MRI results at the same field strength. This NMR method can be a low‐cost, time‐saving alternative for pre‐MRI evaluation for a diversity of responsive T 1 contrast systems.