Silica particles have been developed for biomedical imaging contrast agents due to ease of synthesis and modification. Nevertheless, silica particles are inorganic and may not be fully biodegradable. We developed the ultrathin 2μm hollow silica particles doped with Fe (III) that demonstrated significant reduction of ultrasound imaging power. The iron doping provides not only capabilities of varying shell thickness for various applications, but also enhances biodegradability via Transferrin-Fe(III) chelating pathway. The ultrathin silica shells doped with 3 atomic percentage Fe (III), which is a half amount doping of the control thick shells, showing 69% thinner shells, are mechanically weaker so that easier to fracture to release the gas at lower insonation power. The threshold of CPS imaging of ultrathin shells switches down 72% compared with the control thick shells. The first signal in Color Doppler imaging shows up at MI=0.3 while the thick shells show the first signal at MI=1.

2μm Ultrathin silica shells doped with iron (III) for low threshold of CPS and color doppler ultrasound performace and notable biodegradability

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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