Combining nanotechnology to better image human tissue

by | Dec 3, 2013

Researchs show that combining nanoparticles and DNA nanotechnology can amplify the signal obtained from imaging the extracellular matrix.

The ability to acquire high-quality images of biological tissue is critical to the early-staeg detection of disease, the design of optimal treatment procedures, and the assessment of treatment outcomes. Nanotechnology has demonstrated great potential for allowing the generation of clear images of abnormal tissue (for example, tumor cells). However, while a variety of nanotechnology-based platforms have been extensively studied, few technologies have actaully been developed that realize the amplification of imaging signals for clear observation of a target tissue.

Now, new research has successfully demonstrated that two elements of cutting-edge nanotechnology – nanoparticles and DNA nanotechnology – can be combined to amplify the signal obtained from imaging the extracellular matrix, one of the most important components of biological tissue. The research team believe that this method could be appled to realize single- or multiple-modality imaging of a target tissue for high-quality examination of human diseases.

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