ABSTRACT
Most magnetic nanoparticles (NP) are composed of iron oxide and the minority is composed of iron or other magnetic elements. One of the important directions is the design and application of multifunctional NPs (MNP), that is, loading multiple imaging molecules or both imaging molecules and therapeutic agents onto the same NP to achieve multi-modal imaging or therapeutic/diagnostic benefit. The design and application of MNPs rely on the conventional nanomaterial technologies as the support. Hence the design of NPs requires protective modification of their surface in order to allow them to escape elimination in the immune system, thus increasing the circulation time. MNPs allowing multi-modal imaging may provide important information for the diagnosis and prognosis of diseases from multiple perspectives or at multiple stages, thus providing important guidance on disease management. Special caution should be exercised when using NPs in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.
