Magneto-plasmonic Au-Fe alloy nanoparticles designed for multimodal SERS-MRI-CT imaging

Copper oxide nanoparticles as contrast agents for MRI and ultrasound dual-modality imaging

Multimodal medical imaging is gaining increased popularity in the clinic. This stems from the fact that data acquired from different physical phenomena may provide complementary information resulting in a more comprehensive picture of the pathological state. In this context, nano-sized contrast agents may augment the potential sensitivity of each imaging modality and allow targeted visualization of physiological points of interest (e.g. tumours). In this study, 7 nm copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) were synthesized and characterized. Then, in vitro and phantom specimens containing CuO NPs ranging from 2.4 to 320 μg · mL(-1) were scanned, using both 9.4 T MRI and through-transmission ultrasonic imaging. The results show that the CuO NPs induce shortening of the magnetic T1 relaxation time on the one hand, and increase the speed of sound and ultrasonic attenuation coefficient on the other. Moreover, these visible changes are NP concentration-dependent. The change in the physical properties resulted in a substantial increase in the contrast-to-noise ratio (3.4-6.8 in ultrasound and 1.2-19.3 in MRI). In conclusion, CuO NPs are excellent candidates for MRI-ultrasound dual imaging contrast agents. They offer radiation-free high spatial resolution scans by MRI, and cost-effective high temporal resolution scans by ultrasound.

Hollow agarose microneedle with silver coating for intradermal surface-enhanced Raman measurements: a skin-mimicking phantom study

Human intradermal components contain important clinical information beneficial to the field of immunology and disease diagnosis. Although microneedles have shown great potential to act as probes to break the human skin barrier for the minimally invasive measurement of intradermal components, metal microneedles that include stainless steel could cause the following problems: (1) sharp waste production, and (2) contamination due to reuse of microneedles especially in developing regions. In this study, we fabricate agarose microneedles coated with a layer of silver (Ag) and demonstrate their use as a probe for the realization of intradermal surface enhanced Raman scattering measurements in a set of skin-mimicking phantoms. The Ag-coated agarose microneedle quantifies a range of glucose concentrations from 5 to 150 mM inside the skin phantoms with a root-mean-square error of 5.1 mM within 10 s. The needle is found enlarged by 53.9% after another 6 min inside the phantom. The shape-changing capability of this agarose microneedle ensures that there use of these microneedles is impossible, thus avoiding sharp waste production and preventing needle contamination,which shows the great potential for safe and effective needle-based measurements.

Magnetically recyclable catalytic activity of spiky magneto-plasmonic nanoparticles

Spiky magnetoplasmonic nanoparticles with a Fe₃O₄ core and epitaxial Au branches were synthesized for magnetically recyclable catalysis of 4-nitrophenol reduction.

Metastable alloy nanoparticles, metal-oxide nanocrescents and nanoshells generated by laser ablation in liquid solution: influence of the chemical environment on structure and composition

Metastable nanoalloys, metal-oxide nanocrescents and metal@oxide nanoshells are generated by laser ablation in liquid solution (LASiS).

Gd(iii) complex conjugated ultra-small iron oxide as an enhanced T1-weighted MR imaging contrast agent

In this work, Gd(III) complex conjugated ultra-small iron oxide nanoparticles were simply synthesized and were observed with a novel T₁-weight MR imaging enhancement.

Prospects for plasmonic hot spots in single molecule SERS towards the chemical imaging of live cells

Single molecule surface enhanced Raman scattering (SM-SERS) is a highly local effect occurring at sharp edges, interparticle junctions and crevices or other geometries with a sharp nanoroughness of plasmonic nanostructures (“hot spots”) for an analyte detection.