Research Article A Hyperfluorinated Hydrophilic Molecule for Aqueous 19 F MRI Contrast Media Eric A. Tanifum , 1,2 Laxman Devkota, 2 Conelius Ngwa, 2 Andrew A. Badachhape, 2 Ketan B. Ghaghada, 1,2 Jonathan Romero, 3 Robia G. Pautler, 2,3 and Ananth V. Annapragada 1,2 1 Department of Pediatric Radiology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA 2 Department of Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA 3 Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, TX 77030, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Eric A. Tanifum; eatanifu@texaschildrens.org Received 11 June 2018; Revised 2 October 2018; Accepted 9 October 2018; Published 12 November 2018 Academic Editor: Changning Wang Copyright © 2018 Eric A. Tanifum et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Fluorine-19 ( 19 F) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the potential for a wide range of in vivo applications but is limited by lack of flexibility in exogenous probe formulation. Most 19 F MRI probes are composed of perfluorocarbons (PFCs) or per- fluoropolyethers (PFPEs) with intrinsic properties which limit formulation options. Hydrophilic organofluorine molecules can provide more flexibility in formulation options. We report herein a hyperfluorinated hydrophilic organoflourine, ET1084, with ∼24 wt. % 19 F content. It dissolves in water and aqueous buffers to give solutions with ≥8M 19 F. 19 F MRI phantom studies at 9.4T employing a 10-minute multislice multiecho (MSME) scan sequence show a linear increase in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) with increasing concentrations of the molecule and a detection limit of 5 mM. Preliminary cytotoxicity and genotoxicity assessments suggest it is safe at concentrations of up to 20 mM. 1. Introduction MRI is currently the most powerful technique devoid of ionizing radiation for noninvasive clinical interrogation of the state of disease in soft tissue. Following the report of the first proton ( 1 H) MRI in 1973 [1], the technique quickly underwent several technological advances. Today, high resolution 3D anatomical images of all soft tissue types [2] can be obtained routinely in clinics across the globe. Obtaining medical information at the cellular and molecular levels by 1 H MRI often requires the use of contrast agents, and a variety of these are currently in use [3]. 1 H MRI contrast agents (CAs) generate contrast in vivo by altering the relaxivity of 1 H spins in surrounding water molecules but suffer from low SNR due to high background signal from water in soft tissue [4]. e first 19 F MRI images were reported in 1977 [5], but the platform received little attention as a clinical imaging technique until 2005 when Ahrens et al. demonstrated its potential for in vivo cell tracking [6]. Since then, several exogenous PFC and PFPE probes have been used success- fully to track different cell types in vivo by 19 F MRI. ese include dendritic cells (DCs) in humans [7], T cell studies to track inflammatory events in a rodent model of type 1 di- abetes [8], endogenous monocytes and macrophages in inflammatory lesions [9], macrophage distribution and density in mammary tumors and lung metastases [10], as well as lung imaging [11]. Other applications such as mo- lecular imaging of thrombus and angiogenesis [12] have also been assessed. 19 F MRI contrast agents are superior to 1 H MRI because there is no endogenous MR detectable 19 F in soft tissue. ere is therefore negligible tissue background signal, resulting in images with superior SNR. Recent advances in 19 F MRI technology including improvements in radio- frequency (RF) coil design, the development of dual 19 F/ 1 H Hindawi Contrast Media & Molecular Imaging Volume 2018, Article ID 1693513, 8 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/1693513