title: Inorganic nanoparticles based contrast agents for X-ray computed tomography.
abstract: Nanomaterials have gained considerable attention and interest in the development of new and efficient molecular probes for medical diagnosis and imaging. Heavy metal nanoparticles as such are excellent absorber of X-rays and can offer excellent improvement in medical diagnosis and X-ray imaging. Substantial progress has been made in the synthesis protocol and characterization studies of these materials but a major challenge still lies in the toxicological studies, which are rather incomplete. The worst known cases were those associated with Thorotrast (suspension of ThO(2)  nanoparticles) which resulted in many deaths over years. Properly protected nanomaterials conjugated or coated with biocompatible materials can be used for the fabrication of various functional systems with multimodality, targeting properties, reduced toxicity and proper removal from the body. This review aims mainly to provide the advances in the development of inorganic nanoparticle based X-ray contrasting agents with an overview of methods of their preparation, functionalization and applications in medical diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: University of Strasbourg, Faculté de Pharmacie, 74 route du Rhin, BP 60024, F-67401 Illkirch Cedex, France, CNRS 7199, Laboratoire de Conception, et Application de Molécules Bioactives, équipe de Pharmacie Biogalénique.
authors.forename: Anshuman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jakhmola
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Anton
authors.forename: Thierry F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Vandamme
mesh_terms: D003287:Contrast Media / Q000737:chemistry; D007287:Inorganic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D007287:Inorganic Chemicals