Labeling nanoparticles with contrast agents to trace their accumulation to diseased tissues
Nicolas Tsapis (Institut Galien)
In drug delivery, nanomedicines are often associated with a contrast agent to yield nanotheranostic systems allowing both imaging and treatment. The theranostic word was first mentioned in 2002 and comes from the contraction of therapy and diagnostics. Nanotheranostics are designed to image nanoparticle biodistribution, to survey the extent of the disease, to deliver the treatment and to monitor in real time its mechanism of action and its efficacy. In this presentation, we will focus on the first goal and will present several examples of labeling polymer nanoparticles to detect them with one of three different imaging modalities: ultrasound, 19F magnetic resonance imaging or photoacoustics.