Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Historical PersPective on
nanoParticles in imaging
from 1895 to 2000
Mikhail Y. Berezin
Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
1.1
introduction
Out of the two main subjects covered in this topic—imaging and technology—
imaging, or more commonly referred to as radiology, “the eye of medicine,” is
certainly the oldest. Prior to the appearance of nanoscience, radiology had already
been well established through several generations of physicians who themselves
processed thousands of images every year. Still, the persistent quest to “see the
invisible” to better diagnose patients forced radiologists to pay close attention to the
research and development of new imaging technologies. In the past two decades,
nanoparticle contrast agents, stemming from the earliest contrast agents discovered
soon after the discovery of X-rays over a hundred years ago, have become the holy
grail of imaging. Today, an impressive number of radiological procedures that rou-
tinely utilize nanoparticles in clinics with even more impressive number are under
preclinical testing and medical research.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2002 prioritized the most pressing
problems facing medical science and identified three key areas in need of research:
biological pathways, molecular imaging, and nanotechnology. The focus on these
three critical components, backed by substantial investments from the NIH,
transformed classic radiology and early disorchestrated attempts with nanoparticles
