Chiriacò F, Soloperto G, Greco A, Conversano F, Ragusa A, Menichetti L, Casciaro S. Magnetically-coated silica nanospheres for dual-mode imaging at low ultrasound frequency. World J Radiol 2013; 5(11): 411-420 [PMID: 24349645 DOI: 10.4329/wjr.v5.i11.411]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Dr. Sergio Casciaro, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica (CNR-IFC) c/o Campus Ecotekne, via per Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy. sergio.casciaro@cnr.it
Research Domain of This Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Article-Type of This Article
Original Article
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World J Radiol. Nov 28, 2013; 5(11): 411-420 Published online Nov 28, 2013. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v5.i11.411
Magnetically-coated silica nanospheres for dual-mode imaging at low ultrasound frequency
Fernanda Chiriacò, Giulia Soloperto, Antonio Greco, Francesco Conversano, Andrea Ragusa, Luca Menichetti, Sergio Casciaro
Fernanda Chiriacò, Giulia Soloperto, Antonio Greco, Francesco Conversano, Sergio Casciaro, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica (CNR-IFC) c/o Campus Ecotekne, via per Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Andrea Ragusa, National Research Council, Istituto di Nanoscienze, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Luca Menichetti, National Research Council, Institute of Clinical Physiology, 56100 Pisa, Italy
Author contributions: All the authors were involved in designing the study and writing the manuscript; Greco A performed the ultrasound experiments and data acquisition; Conversano F, Soloperto G did the data analysis and contributed to the paper drafting; Chiriacò F was involved in writing and editing the manuscript; Menichetti L, Ragusa A synthetized the dual mode nanoparticles and provided the scanning electron microscopy characterization; Casciaro S conceived and co-ordinated the study.
Supported by Italian Ministry of Instruction and Research, No. DM18604-Bando Laboratori-DD MIUR 14.5.2005 n.602/Ric/2005; by FESR PO Apulia Region 2007-2013-Action 1.2.4, No. 3Q5AX31; and by the Progetto Bandiera NANOMAX ENCODER
Correspondence to: Dr. Sergio Casciaro, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica (CNR-IFC) c/o Campus Ecotekne, via per Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy. sergio.casciaro@cnr.it
Telephone: +39-832-422310 Fax: +39-832-422341
Received: June 28, 2013 Revised: September 6, 2013 Accepted: October 18, 2013 Published online: November 28, 2013
Core Tip
Core tip: In this work we investigated the acoustic response of novel dual-mode nanoparticle contrast agents, detectable through both ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), made of silica nanospheres (SiNSs) of different diameters coated with superparamagnetic nanoparticles [iron-oxide (IO) or FePt-IO nanocrystals]. Magnetically-coated SiNSs were insonified with US pulses in the lower diagnostic range (2.5-4.5 MHz), which are commonly employed for the imaging of deep organs, and the results were compared with those of pure SiNSs. The US characterization of these nanocomposites shows that FePt-IO, rather than IO, was the best magnetic coating for realizing nanosized contrast agents suitable for dual mode imaging of deep targets, combining US and MRI techniques.
