Nanoparticles Offer New Hope For Detection And Treatment

Nanoparticles Offer New Hope For Detection And Treatment: "he spherical nanoparticles are a few thousand times smaller than the dot above this 'i,' yet each can carry about 100,000 molecules of the metal used to provide contrast in MRI images. This creates a high density of contrast agent, and when the particles bind to a specific area, that site glows brightly in MRI scans.

In this study, MRI scans picked up tumors that were only a couple of millimeters (about one twenty-fifth of an inch) wide.

Small, rapidly growing tumors cause growth of new blood vessels, which feed the tumors. To get the particles to bind to tumors, the researchers equipped them with tiny 'hooks' that link only to complementary 'loops' found on cells in newly forming blood vessels. When the nanoparticles hooked the 'loops' on the new vessels' cells, they revealed the location of the tumors."