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Construction of smart inorganic nanoparticle-based ultrasound contrast agents and their biomedical applications

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  • Materials Science
  • Published:
Science Bulletin

Abstract

Ultrasound (US) imaging in combination with US contrast agents (UCAs) is a powerful tool in the modern biomedical field because of its high spatial resolution, easy access to patients and minimum invasiveness. The microbubble-based UCAs have been widely used in clinical diagnosis; however, they are only limited to the blood pool imaging and not applicable to the tissue-penetrated imaging due to their large particle size and structural instability. Inorganic nanoparticles (NPs), such as silica, gold and Fe x O y , featured with both satisfactory echogenic properties and structural stability have the potential to be used as a new generation of UCAs. In this review, we present the most recent progresses in the tailored construction of inorganic UCAs and their biomedical applications in the US imaging-involved fields. Firstly, the typical inorganic NPs with different structures including solid, hollow and multiple-layer forms will be comprehensively introduced in terms of their structure design, physicochemical property, US imaging mechanism and diverse applications; secondly, the recent progress in exploring the gas-generating inorganic NP system for US imaging purpose will be reviewed, and these intelligent UCAs are multifunctional for simultaneous US imaging and disease therapy; thirdly, several nanocomposite platforms newly constructed by combining inorganic UCAs with other functional components will be presented and discussed. These multifunctional NPs are capable of further enhancing the imaging resolution by providing more comprehensive anatomical information simultaneously. Last but not the least, the design criteria for developing promising UCAs to satisfy both clinical demands and optimized US imaging capability will be discussed and summarized in this review.

摘要

超声造影成像因其非侵入性、风险低、价格低和轻便快捷等优势,在肿瘤诊断方面得到了广泛的应用。伴随着分子影像技术的进步和发展,针对肿瘤的靶向超声造影剂的制备和应用成为了材料和医学界的研究热点。然而,由于粒径较大和结构稳定性差等因素,目前常用的微泡造影剂在体内循环和成像时间较短,同时难以渗透到肿瘤组织和细胞内部实现有效的肿瘤造影成像。针对以上问题,目前国际科学界开展了氧化硅、金和氧化铁等无机基质的纳米超声造影剂的制备和应用研究,力求在结构和成像性能等方面大幅度提高材料的超声造影性能。本综述主要从3个方面介绍无机纳米超声造影剂的研究进展:(1) 新型实心、空心和多壁结构无机SiO2纳米超声造影剂的制备、成像机理和诊断应用研究;(2) 新型相转变智能超声造影剂的合成和诊疗应用进展;(3) 与光声造影成像、磁性能和肿瘤靶向性能复合的几种代表性多功能超声造影剂的介绍,并着重总结目前国际上关于光热治疗和超声造影复合纳米材料的研究进展。此外,为了进一步提高无机超声造影剂的安全性和有效性,提出了材料设计和临床前研究的指导性思路。

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists (51225202), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51402329), Science Foundation for Youth Scholar of State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructures (SKL201404) and Shanghai Excellent Academic Leaders Program (14XD1403800).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructures, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200050, China

    Ming Ma, Hangrong Chen & Jianlin Shi

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  1. Ming Ma
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  2. Hangrong Chen
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Correspondence to Hangrong Chen or Jianlin Shi.

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Ma, M., Chen, H. & Shi, J. Construction of smart inorganic nanoparticle-based ultrasound contrast agents and their biomedical applications. Sci. Bull. 60, 1170–1183 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-015-0829-5

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