Nano-sized particles have been engineered in a new way to improve detection of tumors within the body and in biopsy tissue, a research team reports. The advance could enable identifying early stage tumors with lower doses of radiation.

Researchers from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology have developed “core-shell nanoparticles” which may be used in the future for targeted diagnostics, instead of current methods that use optical or X-ray fluorescence contrast agents. The tests performed in the laboratory on mice have shown that the new particles are able to detect early-stage tumours of only a few millimetres in size. “Nanoparticles of different size, originating from the same material, don’t appear to be distributed in the blood in the same concentrations,” Muhammet Toprak, Professor of Materials Chemistry at KTH, says. “That’s because when they come into contact with your body, they’re quickly wrapped in various biological molecules — which gives them a new identity.”

Source (KTH, Royal Institute of Technology. “New nanoparticle design paves way for improved detection of tumors.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 2 June 2021.)

Original paper: Saladino, G.M., Vogt, C., Li, Y., Shaker, K., Brodin, B., Svenda, M., Hertz, H.M. and Toprak, M.S., 2021. Optical and X-ray Fluorescent Nanoparticles for Dual Mode Bioimaging. ACS nano, 15(3), pp.5077-5085.