Biomedical imaging

A scanning force microscope (SFM) has proven to be an instrument that can image biomedical systems at high resolution (in the nanometer scale) and obtain time-dependent dynamic information about their surface morphology in various (air, liquid, vacuum) environments [1,2],... 

Although microthermal analysis is a very new technique. commercial instruments are available. Applications to pharmaceuticals, polymers, and foods have been reported. The technique also has applications in the ceramics industry and in imaging biomedical. samples. 

V Kriete (ed) 1992 Visualization In Biomedical Microscopy, 3-d Imaging and Computer Visualization (Weinheim VCH) Wilson T (ed) 1996 Confocal Microscopy (New York Academic)... 

Water soluble starch capped nanoparticles proved to be efficient non-cytotoxic bactericidal agents at nanomolar concentrations. The investigation also suggested that starch capped CuNPs have great potential for use in biomedical applications such as cellular imaging or photothermal therapy. 

Nanoparticles for biomedical imaging. Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 6 (11), 1175-1194. 

The National Biomedical Research Center for Advanced ESR Technology (ACERT), http / / www.acert.cornell.edu/indexfiles/acert highlight imaging 3.htm... 

The chapters cover the following areas (i) use of coordination complexes in all types of catalysis (Chapters 1-11) (ii) applications related to the optical properties of coordination complexes, which covers fields as diverse as solar cells, nonlinear optics, display devices, pigments and dyes, and optical data storage (Chapters 12-16) (iii) hydrometallurgical extraction (Chapter 17) (iv) medicinal and biomedical applications of coordination complexes, including both imaging and therapy (Chapters 18-22) and (v) use of coordination complexes as precursors to semiconductor films and nanoparticles (Chapter 23). As such, the material in this volume ranges from solid-state physics to biochemistry. 

Quantitative fluorescence imaging techniques and FLIM in particular are becoming increasingly important in biological and biomedical sciences. Knowledge of instrumentation and data analysis is required to avoid misinterpretation of the experimental results and to exploit the wealth of information provided by these techniques. 

The introduction and diversification of genetically encoded fluorescent proteins (FPs) [1] and the expansion of available biological fluorophores have propelled biomedical fluorescent imaging forward into new era of development [2], Particular excitement surrounds the advances in microscopy, for example, inexpensive time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) cards for desktop computers that do away with the need for expensive and complex racks of equipment and compact infrared femtosecond pulse length semiconductor lasers, like the Mai Tai, mode locked titanium sapphire laser from Spectra physics, or the similar Chameleon manufactured by Coherent, Inc., that enable multiphoton excitation. 

Biological fluorescent dyes and FPs, although indispensable tools of modern biomedical research suffer from several drawbacks. Particularly, they are prone to photobleaching, which is a problem for quantitative imaging and FRET-FLIM experiments [36], and they tend to have broad overlapping spectra and generally do not have a wide range of lifetimes. 

The immobilisation of proteins into inorganic mesoporous host materials has attracted considerable attention due to the potential applications in biochemical, biomedical, industrial and bio-analytical fields [1] Biocompatible supports endowed with fluorescent tracers and adequately modified for specific interactions with cellular antigens are an amenable tool for image in living cells processes that are relevant to diseases. 

Nanoparticles such as those of the heavy metals, like cadmium selenide, cadmium sulfide, lead sulfide, and cadmium telluride are potentially toxic [14,15]. The possible mechanisms by which nanoparticles cause toxicity inside cells are schematically shown in Fig. 2. They need to be coated or capped with low toxicity or nontoxic organic molecules or polymers (e.g., PEG) or with inorganic layers (e.g., ZnS and silica) for most of the biomedical applications. In fact, many biomedical imaging and detection applications of QDs encapsulated by complex molecules do not exhibit noticeable toxic effects [16]. One report shows that the tumor cells labeled with QDs survived in circulation and extravasated into tissues... 

Nanoparticle surface modification is of tremendous importance to prevent nanoparticle aggregation prior to injection, decrease the toxicity, and increase the solubility and the biocompatibility in a living system [20]. Imaging studies in mice clearly show that QD surface coatings alter the disposition and pharmacokinetic properties of the nanoparticles. The key factors in surface modifications include the use of proper solvents and chemicals or biomolecules used for the attachment of the drug, targeting ligands, proteins, peptides, nucleic acids etc. for their site-specific biomedical applications. The functionalized or capped nanoparticles should be preferably dispersible in aqueous media. 

II. Small-Molecule Metal-Based Probes and Their Biomedical Imaging... 

Over the past 20 years, the principal biomedical application for (free or metal-substituted) porphyrins has been Photodynamic Therapy (PDT), with extensive literature in the area including a number of comprehensive reviews (114-116). Porphyrins offer scope for optical imaging as they are potent fluorophores in the red region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Although, to date, the emphasis has been on their therapeutic effects, due to their... 

The primary focus of this chapter is to provide an introduction to the main imaging modalities and the current biomedical research that is currently underway in the field of modern neuroimaging. Since the focus of this chapter is on neurobiology and neurochemistry, only MRI/MRS... 

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