Chapter 14
Medical Applications of Magnetic
Nanoparticles
Matteo Avolio, Claudia Innocenti, Alessandro Lascialfari, Manuel Mariani,
and Claudio Sangregorio
Abstract The increased ability in manipulating matter at the nanoscale has paved
the way towards the creation of a plethora of novel systems endowed with extremely
appealing properties exploitable in a wide number of clinical applications, the
two most prominent being, undoubtedly, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and
Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia (MFH). In this Chapter, we review a few recent examples to convey to the reader a picture of the promising role magnetic nanoparticles
(MNPs) may play in the medicine of the next future. After a general overview of the
two techniques, we summarize the physical principles at their base to provide the
reader the necessary tools to understand limits and advantages of employing MNPs
as contrast agents in MRI and heat mediators in MFH. Among the countless examples of MNP-based materials proposed in the recent years for these applications,
we select and report in detail some of the most representative and promising ones
to underline the challenges that this branch of the material science must address to
interplay with the complexity of the human body. Finally, we try to photograph the
M. Avolio · A. Lascialfari · M. Mariani
Dipartimento di Fisica, INFN and INSTM, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Via Bassi 6, 27100
Pavia, Italy
e-mail: matteo.avolio01@universitadipavia.it
A. Lascialfari
e-mail: alessandro.lascialfari@unipv.it
M. Mariani
e-mail: manuel.mariani@unipv.it
C. Innocenti (B)
Dipartimento di Chimica “U.Shiff”, Università degli Studi di Firenze and INSTM, Via della
Lastruccia 3-13, Sesto Fiorentino (FI) 50019, Italy
e-mail: claudia.innocenti@unifi.it
C. Innocenti · C. Sangregorio
ICCOM, CNR, Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino (FI) 50019, Italy
e-mail: claudio.sangregorio@iccom.cnr.it
A. Lascialfari
Dipartimento Di Fisica, INFN and INSTM, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16,
20133 Milan, Italy
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. Peddis et al. (eds.), New Trends in Nanoparticle Magnetism,
Springer Series in Materials Science 308,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60473-8_14
327
Medical Applications of Magnetic
Nanoparticles
Matteo Avolio, Claudia Innocenti, Alessandro Lascialfari, Manuel Mariani,
and Claudio Sangregorio
Abstract The increased ability in manipulating matter at the nanoscale has paved
the way towards the creation of a plethora of novel systems endowed with extremely
appealing properties exploitable in a wide number of clinical applications, the
two most prominent being, undoubtedly, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and
Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia (MFH). In this Chapter, we review a few recent examples to convey to the reader a picture of the promising role magnetic nanoparticles
(MNPs) may play in the medicine of the next future. After a general overview of the
two techniques, we summarize the physical principles at their base to provide the
reader the necessary tools to understand limits and advantages of employing MNPs
as contrast agents in MRI and heat mediators in MFH. Among the countless examples of MNP-based materials proposed in the recent years for these applications,
we select and report in detail some of the most representative and promising ones
to underline the challenges that this branch of the material science must address to
interplay with the complexity of the human body. Finally, we try to photograph the
M. Avolio · A. Lascialfari · M. Mariani
Dipartimento di Fisica, INFN and INSTM, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Via Bassi 6, 27100
Pavia, Italy
e-mail: matteo.avolio01@universitadipavia.it
A. Lascialfari
e-mail: alessandro.lascialfari@unipv.it
M. Mariani
e-mail: manuel.mariani@unipv.it
C. Innocenti (B)
Dipartimento di Chimica “U.Shiff”, Università degli Studi di Firenze and INSTM, Via della
Lastruccia 3-13, Sesto Fiorentino (FI) 50019, Italy
e-mail: claudia.innocenti@unifi.it
C. Innocenti · C. Sangregorio
ICCOM, CNR, Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino (FI) 50019, Italy
e-mail: claudio.sangregorio@iccom.cnr.it
A. Lascialfari
Dipartimento Di Fisica, INFN and INSTM, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16,
20133 Milan, Italy
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. Peddis et al. (eds.), New Trends in Nanoparticle Magnetism,
Springer Series in Materials Science 308,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60473-8_14
327