AuroVist™

Updated: March 13, 2007

Introduction
Gold Nanoparticles: a New X-Ray Contrast Agent
Features of AuroVist™
Catalog Information

Introduction

AuroVist™ is a new X-ray contrast agent for research animal use based on Nanoprobes' gold nanoparticle technology. AuroVist may be used in MicroCT or other research applications* for imaging blood vessels, other organs, tumors or other anatomical features; it is also the only reagent to be used for in vivo vascular casting.

* Not intended or approved for clinical or diagnostic use.

Gold Nanoparticles: a New X-Ray Contrast Agent

Gold has several advantages over the conventional iodine-based contrast reagents. It achieves better contrast than iodine for both micro-CT and clinical CT applications: at appropriate beam energies (for micro-CT, beam energy should be just above gold’s 12-14-keV L-edge, while for clinical CT it can be tuned to just above gold's 80.7-keV K-edge), gold achieves a contrast up to 3 times greater than iodine per unit mass, and initial blood contrast greater than 1,000 Hounsfeld Units (HU). Furthermore, gold concentrations up to four times those of iodine can be achieved, providing a total contrast gain of up to ten times or more. Unlike iodine, AuroVist™ has very low viscosity and osmolality, and therefore may be injected and used in small blood vessels without risk of vascular damage.

[AuroVist in Mouse and Kidney (43k)]

(left): Live mouse, 5 minutes after injection; (right) Live mouse 1 hour after injection, showing kidney contrast and fine structure (bar = 1mm).

Using this approach, 20 µm blood vessels in live animals have been successfully imaged with microCT, and vascular casts obtained for the first time. Small orthotopic colon tumors were also detected in vivo using gold nanoparticles and microCT. Kidney fine structure may be imaged up to an hour or more after injection; concentration in the kidneys can provide contrast values as high as 1,500 HU or more. AuroVist™ has demonstrated low acute toxicities, and phamacokinetics have been found to be acceptable.

Features of AuroVist™

Longer blood residence time than iodine agents (1.9 nm gold core, ~50,000 Da).
High contrast (>500 HU initial blood contrast, kidneys >1,500 HU).
Clears through kidneys.
Low toxicity (LD50 >1.4 g Au/kg).
Permeates angiogenic endothelium, enabling imaging of tumors.
Concentration >4 times that of standard iodine agents (up to 1.5 g Au/cc).
Upto 10 times the contrast of standard iodine agents (Gold absorbs ~3 times more than an equivalent weight of iodine at 20 and 100 keV and can be ~4 times more concentrated, giving more than 10-fold combined contrast enhancement.
Low osmolality, even at high concentrations
Low viscosity, similar to water; easy to inject, even into small vessels.
Can be imaged using standard microCT.
Yields enhanced radiotherapy dose.

(upper): Live mouse, 2 minutes after injection showing vascular fine structure; (lower) MicroCT of mouse inferior vena cava (bar = 1 mm).

AuroVist™
Single vial (40 mg Au) AuroVist™
Multiple experiments (5 x 40 mg)

Instructions and Product information (html) Instructions and product information (html)

Product information (PDF) Product information (PDF)

Material Safety Data Sheet (PDF) Material Safety Data Sheet (PDF)

See Our 2005 paper on in vivo vascular casting.
Technical Help: AuroVist™
References for AuroVist™

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Catalog Information: AuroVist™

1102 AuroVist™ (AV)
40 mg Au
1.9 nm gold nanoparticles containing 40 mg gold metal. Ready to be reconstituted in water, PBS, or other buffer.

1102A AuroVist™, 5 vials (AVA)
5 x 40 mg = 200 mg Au total
Five vials of 1.9 nm gold nanoparticles, each containing 40 mg gold metal. Ready to be reconstituted in water, PBS, or other buffer.