title: Nanoparticle Loaded Polymeric Microbubbles as Contrast Agents for Multimodal Imaging.
abstract: Ultrasound contrast agents are typically microbubbles (MB) with a gas core that is stabilized by a shell made of lipids, proteins, or polymers. The high impedance mismatch between the gas core and an aqueous environment produces strong contrast in ultrasound (US). Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) MB, previously developed in our laboratory, have been shown to be highly echogenic both in vitro and in vivo. Combining US with other imaging modalities such as fluorescence, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or computerized tomography (CT) could improve the accuracy of many US applications and provide more comprehensive diagnostic information. Furthermore, our MB have the capacity to house a drug in the PLA shell and create drug-loaded nanoparticles in situ when passing through an ultrasound beam. To create multimodal contrast agents, we hypothesized that the polymer shell of our PLA MB platform could accommodate additional payloads. In this study, we therefore modified our current MB by encapsulating nanoparticles including aqueous or organic quantum dots (QD), magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MNP), or gold nanoparticles (AuNP) to create bimodality platforms in a manner that minimally compromised the performance of each individual imaging technique.
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 United States.
authors.forename: Nutte
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Teraphongphom
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States.|Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chhour
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, United States.
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Eisenbrey
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States.
authors.forename: Pratap C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Naha
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States.|Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States.
authors.forename: Walter R T
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Witschey
authors.affiliation: Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Drexel University , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 United States.
authors.forename: Borirak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Opasanont
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 United States.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jablonowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States.|Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States.
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Cormode
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 United States.
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Wheatley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D003287:Contrast Media; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D045663:Quantum Dots; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D011108:Polymers