Methods and systems of assessing tissue vascular permeability using non-labeled dextran

1. A method of assessing tissue vascular permeability for nanotherapeutics using non-labeled dextran, comprising:

receiving a non-labeled, physiologically-tolerable dextran solution by a subject;

acquiring a plurality of magnetic resonance images of a distribution of said dextran solution within at least one region of interest of the subject for a corresponding plurality of times; and

assessing a tissue vascular permeability of said at least one region of interest to dextran particles in said dextran solution based on differences between said plurality of magnetic resonance images,

wherein said dextran solution is a substantially mono-disperse solution of dextran particles of one size.

2. A method of assessing tissue vascular permeability according to claim 1 , further comprising, subsequent to said receiving and said acquiring:

receiving a second, non-labeled, physiologically-tolerable dextran solution by the subject;

acquiring a second plurality of magnetic resonance images of a distribution of said second dextran solution within the same at least one region of interest for a corresponding plurality of times;

assessing a second tissue vascular permeability of said at least one region of interest to the second dextran particles based on differences between said second plurality of magnetic resonance images; and

determining a range of operability for nanotherapeutics of similar size based on the vascular permeability of the two sizes of dextran particles, wherein said second dextran solution is a substantially mono-disperse solution of dextran particles of one size that is different from the one size of the first dextran solution,

wherein said determining a range is based on the first mentioned and the second dextran particles.

3. A method of assessing tissue vascular permeability according to claim 2 , further comprising repeating said receiving dextran of a different size and acquiring and

assessing steps a plurality of times for a corresponding plurality of dextran solutions.

4. A method of assessing tissue vascular permeability according to claim 2 , wherein said second dextran particles have a molecular weight larger than the molecular weight of the first-mentioned dextran particles.

5. A method of assessing tissue vascular permeability according to claim 1 , wherein said acquiring is acquiring a plurality of chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) magnetic resonance images.

6. A method of assessing tissue vascular permeability according to claim 1 , wherein said acquiring is acquiring a plurality of measurements to assess changes in T1rho, T2 or T2* relaxation.

7. A method of assessing tissue vascular permeability according to claim 1 , wherein said dextran particles have a molecular weight of at least 3 kD and less than 2,000 kD.

8. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

acquiring a plurality of magnetic resonance images of a particular chemical or biological agent that modulates the vascular function of the at least one region of interest; and

assessing the tissue vascular permeability of the at least one region of interest based on differences between said plurality of magnetic resonance images of the chemical or biological agent.

9. A method of assessing tissue vascular permeability according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one region of interest comprises a tumor.

10. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium for assessing tissue vascular permeability using non-labeled dextran, the computer-readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform:

acquiring a plurality of magnetic resonance images of a distribution of a non-labeled, physiologically-tolerable dextran solution that has been received by a subject, wherein the acquiring step acquires the plurality of magnetic resonance images within at least one region of interest for a corresponding plurality of times; and

assessing a tissue vascular permeability of said at least one region of interest to dextran particles in said dextran solution based on differences between said plurality of magnetic resonance images,

wherein said dextran solution is a substantially mono-disperse solution of dextran particles of one size.

11. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10 , further comprising instructions that, when executed, subsequent to said receiving and said acquiring, perform:

acquiring a second plurality of magnetic resonance images of a distribution of non-labeled, physiologically-tolerable dextran solution that has been received by a subject, wherein the acquiring step acquires the plurality of magnetic resonance images within the same at least one region of interest for a corresponding plurality of times;

assessing a second tissue vascular permeability of said at least one region of interest to the second dextran particles based on differences between said second plurality of magnetic resonance images; and

determining a range of operability for nanotherapeutics of similar size based on the vascular permeability of the two sizes of dextran particles,

wherein said second dextran solution is a substantially mono-disperse solution of dextran particles of one size that is different from the one size of the first dextran solution, and

wherein said determining a range is based on the first mentioned and the second dextran particles.

12. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium according to claim 11 , further comprising repeating said receiving dextran of a different size, acquiring and assessing steps a plurality of times for a corresponding plurality of dextran solutions.

13. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium according to claim 10 , wherein said acquiring a plurality of magnetic resonance images is acquiring a plurality chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) magnetic resonance images.

14. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium according to claim 10 , wherein said acquiring is acquiring a plurality of measurements to assess changes in T1rho, T2 or T2* relaxation.

15. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium according to claim 10 , wherein said dextran particles have a molecular weight of at least 3 kD and less than 2,000 kD.

16. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium according to claim 10 , wherein said second dextran particles have a molecular weight larger than the first-mentioned dextran particles.

17. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises instructions that when executed cause the computer to perform:

acquiring a plurality of magnetic resonance images of a particular chemical or biological agent that modulates the vascular function of the at least one region of interest; and

assessing the tissue vascular permeability of the at least one region of interest based on differences between said plurality of magnetic resonance images of the chemical or biological agent.

18. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium according to claim 10 , wherein the at least one region of interest comprises a tumor.

19. A system for assessing tissue vascular permeability using non-labeled dextran, comprising:

a data processing system; and

a display system configured to communicate with said data processing system,

wherein said data processing system comprises non-transitory, executable instructions that, when executed by said data processing system, causes the data processing system to perform:

acquiring a plurality of magnetic resonance images of a distribution of a non-labeled, physiologically-tolerable dextran solution that has been received by a subject, wherein the acquiring step acquires the plurality of magnetic resonance images within at least one region of interest for a corresponding plurality of times; and

assessing a tissue vascular permeability of said at least one region of interest to dextran particles in said dextran solution based on differences between said plurality of magnetic resonance images,

wherein said dextran solution is a substantially mono-disperse solution of dextran particles of one size.

20. The system according to claim 19 , further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, causes the data processing system to perform subsequent to said receiving and said acquiring:

acquiring a second plurality of magnetic resonance images of a distribution of non-labeled, physiologically-tolerable dextran solution that has been received by a subject, wherein the acquiring step acquires the plurality of magnetic resonance images within the same at least one region of interest for a corresponding plurality of times;

assessing a second tissue vascular permeability of said at least one region of interest to the second dextran particles based on differences between said second plurality of magnetic resonance images; and

determining a range of operability for nanotherapeutics of similar size based on the vascular permeability of the two sizes of dextran particles,

wherein said second dextran solution is a substantially mono-disperse solution of dextran particles of one size that is different from the one size of the first dextran solution, and

wherein said determining a range is based on the first mentioned and the second dextran particles.

21. The system according to claim 19 , further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the data processing system to perform repeating said receiving, acquiring and assessing steps a plurality of times for a corresponding plurality of dextran solutions.

22. The system according to claim 19 , wherein said acquiring a plurality of magnetic resonance images is acquiring a plurality chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) magnetic resonance images.

23. The system according to claim 19 , wherein said acquiring is acquiring a plurality of measurements to assess changes in T1rho, T2 or T2*.

24. The system according to claim 19 , wherein said dextran particles have a molecular weight of at least 3 kD and less than 2,000 kD.

25. The system according to claim 19 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the computer perform:

acquiring a plurality of magnetic resonance images of a particular chemical or biological agent that modulates the vascular function of the at least one region of interest; and

assessing the tissue vascular permeability of the at least one region of interest based on differences between said plurality of magnetic resonance images of the chemical or biological agent.

26. The system according to claim 19 , wherein the region of interest comprises a tumor.