Lahri Rachita, Rahman Mohammed, Wright Michael, Kosmas Panagiotis, Thanou Maya
Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, London, SE1 9NH, UK.
Faculty of Natural & Mathematical Sciences, King's College London, London, WC2R 2LS, UK.
Med Phys. 2018 Jun 25. doi: 10.1002/mp.13062.
Microwave imaging/sensing is an emerging technology that shows potential for healthcare diagnostic applications, particularly in breast cancer detection. This technique estimates the anatomically variant dielectric properties of the breast. Similar to other imaging modalities, nanoparticles (NPs) could potentially be utilized as contrast agents to increase contrast between healthy and malignant tissues.
In this study, aqueous suspensions of NPs such as surface-modified single-walled carbon nanotubes, zinc oxide, and silicon dioxide are studied to assess their potential effective contrast for microwave imaging. Morphology characterization of the NPs has been achieved using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The size and stability of colloidal dispersions have been characterized by dynamic light scattering technique (DLS) and Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis). The dielectric characterization of the aqueous-based colloidal suspensions is recorded over the microwave frequency range between 1 and 4 GHz.
Zinc oxide NP dispersion has shown an increase in the dielectric constant compared to the background medium. Furthermore, PEGylation of ZnO NPs can achieve a valid increase in the dielectric constant compared to water, which was shown to be concentration dependent.
These results suggest that ZnO nanomaterials have the potential to be used in biomedical applications such as breast imaging to improve diagnostic capabilities.
微波成像/传感是一项新兴技术，在医疗诊断应用中显示出潜力，尤其是在乳腺癌检测方面。该技术可估算乳房解剖结构各异的介电特性。与其他成像方式类似，纳米颗粒（NPs）有可能被用作造影剂，以增强健康组织与恶性组织之间的对比度。
在本研究中，对诸如表面改性的单壁碳纳米管、氧化锌和二氧化硅等纳米颗粒的水悬浮液进行了研究，以评估它们在微波成像中的潜在有效对比度。已使用原子力显微镜（AFM）和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）对纳米颗粒进行了形态表征。通过动态光散射技术（DLS）和紫外可见分光光度法（UV-Vis）对胶体分散体的尺寸和稳定性进行了表征。在1至4 GHz的微波频率范围内记录了水基胶体悬浮液的介电特性。
与背景介质相比，氧化锌纳米颗粒分散体的介电常数有所增加。此外，与水相比，氧化锌纳米颗粒的聚乙二醇化可有效提高介电常数，且显示出浓度依赖性。
这些结果表明，氧化锌纳米材料有潜力用于生物医学应用，如乳房成像，以提高诊断能力。
