Magnetic nano-particles could improve medical imaging

Scientists at Houston’s Rice University and The Methodist Hospital Research Institute (TMHRI) led an international team of researchers in creating composite particles that can be injected into patients and guided by magnetic fields. Once in position, the particles may be heated to kill malignant tissues or trigger the release of drugs at the site.

The so-called nanoconstructs should fully degrade and leave the body within a few days, they reported. The research appears online in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

The team led by Rice chemist Lon Wilson and TMHRI scientist Paolo Decuzzi was searching for a way to overcome the challenges presented by iron oxide particles, which can be manipulated with magnets, provide excellent contrast under MRI, create heat when triggered and degrade quickly. They can’t, however, perform these tasks simultaneously so the team devised a way of decoupling the functions from their sizes.

The solution was to package thousands of iron oxide particles – with magnetic cores as small as five nanometres across – inside larger particles.