Transmission electron microscopy of lipid vesicles for drug delivery

Abstract

Iron oxides nanocrystals are largely used for biomedical applications due to their high magnetization. Furthermore for in vivo applications these nanoparticles must be covered with a non-toxic material. Inside the numerous nano-systems for drug delivery, lipid structures, such as Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLNs), have been largely developed for various administration routes. In this work SLNs and iron-oxide nanocrystals covered with a lipid shell are characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy. This technique has revealed to be essential to investigate the ultrafine compositional and morphological properties of these systems. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.