Nanobiomaterials in Medical Imaging

Abstract

The recent applications of nanobiomaterials and functionalized nano-devices are now impacting the global market and show the great promise that this technology holds for the rest of this century. The changes in nanotechnology have provided new insights for material schemes that are centered on the structural switch of atoms and molecules. This technology has transformed and completely changed the field of innovative functional materials. Especially after the Genome Project in 2000, the present knowledge, in combination with the huge amount of acquired techniques and material know-hows, has allowed us to conceptualize new medical technologies. One of the cutting-edge visual non-invasive methods is medical imaging, which allows an understanding of the interior organs of the body without any surgical intervention. Nanobiomaterials are very useful in medicine for developing diagnostic devices, contrast/visual agents, analytical tools, drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, and physical therapy vehicles. The fate of these materials is categorically visualized by multimodal molecular imaging/medical imaging. This chapter presents the major insights and current status of nanotechnology and nanobiomaterials to its various applications in medical imaging.