Magnetic colloids contrast agents

M. Kumagai, Y. Imai, T. Nakamura, Y. Yamasaki, M. Sekino, S. Ueno, et al.. Iron hydroxide nant tarticles coated with poly (ethylene glycol)-poly (aspartic add) block copolymer as novel magnetic resonance contrast agents for in vivo cancer imaging. Colloids Surf. B Biointerfaces 56 (2007) 174-181. 

Morphology control is indispensable in many of the advanced applications envisioned for functional mesoporous materials (54, 267). Permselective membranes, micro-spheres, or monoliths are important for sorption, separation, and chromatography purposes. Porous thin films or fibrous structures are relevant for electronics, optics, low fe-dielectrics, and sensing applications. Colloidal particles or nanospheres are preferred for biomedical systems to be used in drug delivery or magnetic resonance imaging (MRl) with contrast agents. 

Sharma, P. Brown, S. Walter, G. Santra, S. Moudgil, B., Nanoparticles for bioimaging. Advances in Colloid and Interface Science 2006, 123, 471-485. Morawski, A. M. Lanza, G. A. Wickline, S. A., Targeted contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound. Current Opinion in Biotechnology 2005, 16, (1), 89-92. 

Consequently, much of the development made on bespoke nanoparticles for hyperthermia has been built upon the existing knowledge about iron oxide nanoparticles. Moreover, it must be pointed out that many of the available commercial colloids actually are magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. For this reason, the next sections will be dealing with them. 

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