Encapsulated Fe_3O_4/Ag Complexed Cores in Hollow Gold Nanoshells for Enhanced Theranostic Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Photothermal Therapy

摘要

Metal nanostructures have been the focus of extensive research due to their unique medical and biological applications, such as immunoassay labeling, biological and chemical sensing, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, and clinical diagnosis and therapy. In particular, nanostructures derived from gold have generated strong interest, because of their unique and size-dependent electronic, physical, chemical, and optical properties. Gold nanostructures possess an intense optical absorption attributed to the surface plasmon resonance phenomenon and serve as thermally stable heat transfer sources that can be utilized for photothermal therapy (PTT). Commonly used gold nanostructures for PTT include nanospheres, nanoshells, nanotubes, and nanorods. These nanoparticles are tuned to absorb light in the near infrared region (NIR), which has minimum water and hemoglobin absorption and, therefore, has the deepest optical tissue penetration depth.