Perfluorocarbon Nanoparticles for Molecular Imaging and Targeted Therapeutics

Molecular imaging is a novel tool that has allowed noninvasive diagnostic imaging to transition from gross anatomical description to identification of specific tissue epitopes and observation of biological processes at the cellular level. Until recently, this technique was confined to the field of nuclear imaging; however, advances in nanotechnology have extended this research to include magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and ultrasound (US), among others. The application of nanotechnology to MR, SPECT, and US molecular imaging has generated several candidate contrast agents. We discuss the application of one multimodality platform, a targeted perfluorocarbon nanoparticle. Our results show that it is useful for noninvasive detection with all three imaging modalities and may additionally be used for local drug delivery.