A fluorescent, paramagnetic and PEGylated gold/silica nanoparticle for MRI, CT and fluorescence imaging

Matti M. van Schooneveld, David P. Cormode, Rolf Koole, J. Timon van Wijngaarden, Claudia Calcagno, Torjus Skajaa, Jan Hilhorst, Dannis C. 't Hart, Zahi A. Fayad, Willem J. M. Mulder, Andries Meijerink

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

108 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

An important challenge in medical diagnostics is to design all-in-one contrast agents that can be detected with multiple techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), X-ray computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission tomography (SPECT) or fluorescence imaging (FI). Although many dual labeled agents have been proposed, mainly for combined MRI/FI, constructs for three imaging modalities are scarce. Here gold/silica nanoparticles with a poly(ethylene glycol), paramagnetic and fluorescent lipid coating were synthesized, characterized and applied as trimodal contrast agents to allow for nanoparticle-enhanced imaging of macrophage cells in vitro via MRI, CT and FI, and mice livers in vivo via MRI and CT. This agent can be a useful tool in a multitude of applications, including cell tracking and target-specific molecular imaging, and is a step in the direction of truly multi-modal imaging
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)231-236
JournalContrast media & molecular imaging
Volume5
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

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