Biocompatible iron oxide nanoparticles for enhancement of MRI, thermography and thermal ablation

Thermography is a contact free and low cost diagnostic tool for cancer. However it has several disadvantages over other early cancer detection methods like mammography. Relatively low sensitivity for small and deep tumors, its inability to distinguish tumors from the natural hot spots and other such factors are responsible for the failure of full acceptance of thermography as a primary tool for cancer screening. Development of magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) has been developed in the recent years for various applications like cell separation, immunoassay and drug delivery. MNP within the tumor tissue when placed in a magnetic field can enhance the IR characteristics thus enhancing the thermographic image. These MNP can also be use for thermal ablation of cancer and as a contrast agent for MRI. The present study involves the synthesis of stable, biocompatible MNP. This was achieved by modifying the simple co-precipitation method and coating the nanoparticles with PEG twice. Nearly spherical, uniform (7–12nm) particles were produced.