Nanoparticles for Bioimaging: Analytical Characterization and Measurements - Nanotechnology for Biomedical Imaging and Diagnostics - page 146

6

NaNoparticles for BioimagiNg:
aNalytical characterizatioN
aNd measuremeNts

Kate Nelson

Nano Research Facility, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA

Patrick Winter
Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Imaging Research Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Monica Shokeen, Steven Wang, and Mikhail Y. Berezin
Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA

6.1 iNtroductioN

Rapid development of nanoparticles for biomedical applications has, to a large
extent, been based on a solid analytical foundation (both theoretical and instru-
mental) built in the previous decades. Such widespread methods such as transmission
electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and inductively
coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) appeared long before the rise of
nanoparticles and have been quickly adopted by the bioimaging communities that
utilize nanoparticles in their research. Strict limitations to toxicity, hydrodynamic
size, and surface charge that govern the absorption, biodistribution, and route elimi-
nation led to the refinement of the existing techniques to ensure the biocompatibility
of the imaging nanoparticles to humans. In parallel, the advances in instrumentation
have led to a number of methods that evaluate the mechanisms of nanoparticle
cellular uptake and transport to predict in vivo behavior of the nanoparticles.