Imaging lab equipment could use new nanoparticle process

A new imaging process based on the use of nanoparticles could lead to the creation of new lab equipment for scanning biological tissues.

Developed at the University of Washington, the system involves the use of a multifunctional nanoparticle capable of removing background noise from an image when using a photoacoustic process to look into tissue samples.

The scientists believe that lab equipment developed based on their findings could be used to spot the biological equivalent of a needle in a haystack - a single cancerous cell travelling through a patient's bloodstream.

Lead author and assistant professor of bioengineering Xiaohu Gao explains that imaging techniques often produce noisy results because, while surrounding tissue generates a relatively weak signal, there is much more of it than the contrasting agent used.

Because of this, potentially harmful radioactive imaging agents are used to enhance the desired signal over the background noise.

The University of Washington suggests that multifunctional nanoparticles such as the one used here are the "Swiss Army knife" of the nanomedicine discipline.