Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Techniques: Technical Principles and Applications in Nanomedicine
Federico Bruno, Vincenza Granata, Flavia Cobianchi Bellisari, Ferruccio Sgalambro, Emanuele Tommasino, Pierpaolo Palumbo, Francesco Arrigoni, Diletta Cozzi, Francesca Grassi, Maria Chiara Brunese, Silvia Pradella, Maria Luisa Mangoni di S. Stefano, Carmen Cutolo, Ernesto Di Cesare, Alessandra Splendiani, Andrea Giovagnoni, Vittorio Miele, Roberto Grassi, Carlo Masciocchi, Antonio Barile
Abstract
In the last decades, nanotechnology has been used in a wide range of biomedical applications, both diagnostic and therapeutic. In this scenario, imaging techniques represent a fundamental tool to obtain information about the properties of nanoconstructs and their interactions with the biological environment in preclinical and clinical settings. This paper reviews the state of the art of the application of magnetic resonance imaging in the field of nanomedicine, as well as the use of nanoparticles as diagnostic and therapeutic tools, especially in cancer, including the characteristics that hinder the use of nanoparticles in clinical practice.