Iron oxide nanoparticles as MRI contrast agents and their preparing method

Abstract

Iron oxide nano contrast agents for Magnetic Resonance Imaging which have superior T2 contrast effect, and also can be used as a storage or a carrier for drugs and so on, are disclosed. The iron oxide nano contrast agents can be prepared by the steps of: coating surfaces of hydrophobic FeO nanoparticles with a coating material selected from the group consisting of polyethylene glycol-phospholipid conjugate, dextran, chitosan, dimercaptosuccinic acid and mixtures thereof in an organic solvent to form hydrophilic FeO nanoparticles having hydrophilic surfaces and dispersibility in water; dispersing the hydrophilic FeO nanoparticles in water to oxidize FeO; and exposing the oxidized hydrophilic FeO nanoparticles to an acidic buffer to dissolve and remove interior unoxidized FeO portions, and thereby to form Fe3O4 nanoparticles having an interior space.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.