MRI used to locate, track specific cells

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists have created a technology that uses magnetic resonance imaging to locate and track specific cells in a living body.

Carnegie Mellon University researcher Eric Ahrens developed novel imaging reagents and technology to visualize "with exquisite specificity" cell populations of interest in the living body, officials said.

The ability to non-invasively locate and track cells, such as immune cells and stem cells, is expected to be of significance in the study and treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases, as well advancing the emerging field of cellular regenerative medicine.

Ahrens presented his new technology, called fluorocarbon labeling, Thursday in Philadelphia during the national meeting of the American Chemical Society.