Advances of functional nanomaterials for magnetic resonance imaging and biomedical engineering applications

Abstract

Functional nanomaterials have been widely used in biomedical fields due to their good biocompatibility, excellent physicochemical properties, easy surface modification, and easy regulation of size and morphology. Functional nanomaterials for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can target specific sites in vivo and more easily detect disease‐related specific biomarkers at the molecular and cellular levels than traditional contrast agents, achieving a broad application prospect in MRI. This review focuses on the basic principles of MRI, the classification, synthesis and surface modification methods of contrast agents, and their clinical applications to provide guidance for designing novel contrast agents and optimizing the contrast effect. Furthermore, the latest biomedical advances of functional nanomaterials in medical diagnosis and disease detection, disease treatment, the combination of diagnosis and treatment (theranostics), multi‐model imaging and nanozyme are also summarized and discussed. Finally, the bright application prospects of functional nanomaterials in biomedicine are emphasized and the urgent need to achieve significant breakthroughs in the industrial transformation and the clinical translation is proposed. This article is categorized under: Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology Diagnostic Tools > Diagnostic Nanodevices Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease

Molecular nanoprobe for diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases

“…Although various nanoprobes-based molecular imaging has been reported in CVD in recent years, the research of nano-imaging agents is still far from clinical application. While nano-imaging agents achieve a molecular-level diagnosis, they also expose some problems, such as poor biocompatibility, large doses, low targeting, and difficulty in quantitative evaluation [106][107][108]. Therefore, it is still necessary to further optimize the role of nanoprobes in molecular imaging.…”

Functionalized Nanomaterials Capable of Crossing the Blood–Brain Barrier

“…8 Nanomaterials like inorganic nanoparticles, liposomes, dendrimers, and polymers have gained extensive attention in the field of drug and gene delivery, due to their incomparable advantages, such as higher drug loading capacity, lower dose and administration frequency, good biocompatibility (less side effects), high stability, enhanced bioavailability and biodegradability, targeted applications with less invasive theranostic techniques, decreased acquired drug resistance, negligible toxicity and immunogenicity, reduced off-target toxicity, feasibility for various routes of administration (intranasal, oral, and intravenous, and intramuscular injection), sustained and controlled drug release, unique properties (physical, electronic, chemical, and optical), and effective tracing of drug delivery. 3,9 These nanomaterials are being designed and developed as safe, effective, feasible, and practical tools for diagnosing and treating diseases of the CNS. 10 The current interest in functionalized NPs crossing the BBB is reflected in the number of publications per year, which showed a relatively stable growth trend between 1995 and 2023 in general (Figure 1A).…”

Chiral Carbon Dots and Chiral Carbon Dots with Circularly Polarized Luminescence: Synthesis, Mechanistic Investigation and Applications

“…Chiral substances are currently highly sought after by researchers and have attracted a great deal of attention in the fields of sensing, asymmetric catalysis and enantiomeric separation, [5][6][7][8] however, their high cost and toxicity limit their wider application. [9][10][11][12][13][14] The advent of nanotechnology has opened new avenues for the fabrication of chiral objects, and nanomaterials can provide diagnostic and therapeutic functions as well as controlled physicochemical properties, [15][16][17][18][19][20][21] making the development of a novel chiral nanomaterial of great importance. In order to further functionalize chiral nanomaterials with more excellent properties (especially optical), chiral nanomaterials can be introduced into composite functional materials.…”