Nanomaterials for Medical Imaging
and In Vivo Sensing
N. Ashwin Kumar, B. S. Suresh Anand, and Ganapathy Krishnamurthy
Abstract Pre-clinical imaging is a technique that could help in investigating deep
inside the rodents to obtain information regarding disease site and drug development
process using a non-invasive approach. Diverse FDA approved contrast agents have
been implemented since the evolution of these imaging technologies. The current
limitations of these contrast agents include faster clearance and photo instability
and could be unsuitable for multi-modal and hybrid imaging. These impediments
can be overcome with the aid of developing new nanotechnology-based contrast
agents. This opens up a new paradigm for researchers to visualize cancer to obtain
nanomolecular information. During the past two decades, nano-based contrast agents
have revolutionized pre-clinical imaging science, which offers to detect cancers early,
rapidly, and effectively. Despite the fact, the concept and technology of imaging are
old, the way we look at the disease using nanomaterials in a different perspective. Additionally, the imaging techniques combined with nanotechnology-based
contrast agents can be used to investigate the interaction of drugs at a pre-clinical
stage and the cellular level. Pre-clinical imaging is performed with two different
strategies. The former techniques give anatomical information, which includes
computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound. While the latter
presents molecular information using optical techniques, photon-acoustic imaging,
and positron emission tomography. Recent developments in nanotechnology-based
contrast agents have opened new avenues to alter and improve the current imaging
modalities resulting in hybrid and multi-modal imaging approaches. Here, we intend
to provide fundamental knowledge and general considerations of using nanomaterials
in pre-clinical imaging modalities. This chapter provides extensive information about
the advancements in nanomaterials for pre-clinical imaging applications. In the later
N. Ashwin Kumar (B)
Department of Biomedical Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology,
Kattankulathur, Chennai, India
B. S. Suresh Anand
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai, India
G. Krishnamurthy
Department of Engineering Design, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, Chennai, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
T. S. Santra and L. Mohan (eds.), Nanomaterials and Their Biomedical Applications,
Springer Series in Biomaterials Science and Engineering 16,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6252-9_13
335
and In Vivo Sensing
N. Ashwin Kumar, B. S. Suresh Anand, and Ganapathy Krishnamurthy
Abstract Pre-clinical imaging is a technique that could help in investigating deep
inside the rodents to obtain information regarding disease site and drug development
process using a non-invasive approach. Diverse FDA approved contrast agents have
been implemented since the evolution of these imaging technologies. The current
limitations of these contrast agents include faster clearance and photo instability
and could be unsuitable for multi-modal and hybrid imaging. These impediments
can be overcome with the aid of developing new nanotechnology-based contrast
agents. This opens up a new paradigm for researchers to visualize cancer to obtain
nanomolecular information. During the past two decades, nano-based contrast agents
have revolutionized pre-clinical imaging science, which offers to detect cancers early,
rapidly, and effectively. Despite the fact, the concept and technology of imaging are
old, the way we look at the disease using nanomaterials in a different perspective. Additionally, the imaging techniques combined with nanotechnology-based
contrast agents can be used to investigate the interaction of drugs at a pre-clinical
stage and the cellular level. Pre-clinical imaging is performed with two different
strategies. The former techniques give anatomical information, which includes
computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound. While the latter
presents molecular information using optical techniques, photon-acoustic imaging,
and positron emission tomography. Recent developments in nanotechnology-based
contrast agents have opened new avenues to alter and improve the current imaging
modalities resulting in hybrid and multi-modal imaging approaches. Here, we intend
to provide fundamental knowledge and general considerations of using nanomaterials
in pre-clinical imaging modalities. This chapter provides extensive information about
the advancements in nanomaterials for pre-clinical imaging applications. In the later
N. Ashwin Kumar (B)
Department of Biomedical Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology,
Kattankulathur, Chennai, India
B. S. Suresh Anand
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai, India
G. Krishnamurthy
Department of Engineering Design, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, Chennai, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
T. S. Santra and L. Mohan (eds.), Nanomaterials and Their Biomedical Applications,
Springer Series in Biomaterials Science and Engineering 16,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6252-9_13
335