Potential applicability of polyethyleneimine PEI-coated Eu<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> and Dy<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles for contrast enhancement in computed tomography
Valentina Olifirenko, Aiganym Abduraimova, Moon Sung Kang, Iruthayapandi Selestin Raja, Bakyt Duisenbayeva, Anara Molkenova, Laura Khamkhash, Yoon‐Hwae Hwang, Dong‐Wook Han, Timur Sh. Atabaev
Abstract
Abstract Rare-earth metal oxide nanoparticles considered promising contrast agents for x-ray computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The main purpose of this study is to investigate the potential applicability of polyethyleneimine (PEI)-coated Eu 2 O 3 and Dy 2 O 3 nanoparticles (NPs) for CT x-ray attenuation. Morphology and other physicochemical properties of prepared samples were systematically investigated using a range of characterization tools. Preliminary cytotoxicity experiments with L-929 fibroblastic cells suggested that both samples have no significant toxicity at concentrations below 100 μ g ml −1 . Clinical CT analysis shows that PEI@Eu 2 O 3 NPs exhibit higher x-ray attenuation efficiency (∼8 HU mM −1 ) as compared to PEI@Dy 2 O 3 NPs (∼5 HU mM −1 ).