Quantum Times

Multifunctional nanoparticle enables new type of biological imaging

Spotting a single cancerous cell that has broken free from a tumor and is traveling through the bloodstream to colonize a new organ might seem like finding a needle in a haystack. But a new imaging technique from the University of Washington is a first step toward making this possible.UW researchers have developed a multifunctional nanoparticle that eliminates the background noise, enabling a more precise form of medical imaging ? essentially erasing the haystack, so the needle shines through. A successful demonstration with photoacoustic imaging was reported today (July 27) in the journal Nature Communications.Nanoparticles are promising contrast agents for ultrasensitive medical imaging. But in all techniques that do not use radioactive tracers, the surrounding tissues tend to overwhelm weak signals, preventing researchers from detecting just one or a few cells."Although the tissues are not nearly as effective at generating a signal as the contrast agent, the quantity of the tissue is much greater than

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