Nanocomposites for Multimodal Molecular Imaging

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Abstract

Early and accurate diagnosis of tumors requires the combined adoption of different imaging modalities with molecular sensitivity. A successful employment of multimodal molecular imaging is related to the development of smart fully-biodegradable nanoparticle contrast agents (NPCAs), detectable by at least two non-ionizing imaging techniques and suitably sized for tumor targeting. After a short overview of recent findings obtained by our research group in the development and characterization of novel NPCAs, this paper shows for the first time a quantitative assessment of the effectiveness of both a pure silica NPCA and a composite silica/superparamagnetic NPCA as scatterers of low-frequency diagnostic ultrasound (3 MHz) in very low volume concentrations (0.1-0.2%). The pure silica NPCA confirmed the behavior recently reported for higher concentrations at higher frequencies. The composite NPCA followed the same behavior, showing a marked effectiveness peak for a particle diameter of 330 nm, which represents a particularly useful size for tumor targeting purposes. These results open new exciting perspectives for dual-mode molecular imaging of deep tumors, combining ultrasound and magnetic resonance techniques for the accurate, safe and early detection of cancer cells located in internal organs.

Autore Pugliese

Tutti gli autori

  • S. Casciaro; A. Greco; E. Casciaro; F. Conversano; A. Lay-Ekuakille

Titolo volume/Rivista

Non Disponibile

Anno di pubblicazione

2011

ISSN

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ISBN

9781424492893

Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

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Numero di citazioni Scopus

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Settori ERC

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Codici ASJC

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