Abstract #1895

Au@Gd Core-Shell Nanoparticles as a CT/MR Bimodal Contrast Agent

Min-Kyoung Kang¹, Hee-Kyung Kim¹, Ki-Hye Jung², Ji-Ae Park³, Seung-Tae Woo⁴, Joo-Hyun Kim⁴, Eun-Young Jeon⁵, Tae-Jeong Kim², Yongmin Chang¹,⁶

¹Medical & Biological Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea; ²Applied Chemistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea; ³Molecular Imaging Research Center, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Science, Seoul, Korea; ⁴Bayer Healthcare, Medical care, Seoul, Korea; ⁵The Advanced Medical Technology Cluster for Diagnosis & Prediction, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea; ⁶Diagnostic Radiology and Molecular Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea

Gold/gadolinium core-shell nanoparticles of the formula Au@SiO₂@Gd@PEG were synthesized for use as a CT/MR bimodal contrast agent. The preparation initially requires the formation of Au@SiO₂ through self-condensation of TEOS on the surface of AuNPs. Au@SiO₂ thus formed was dispersed in aqueous alcohol to react with Gd(NO₃)₃ in the presence of urea, leading to the formation of Au@SiO₂@Gd core-shell nanoparticles. In order to increase solubility as well as biocompatibility further coated with PEG. These systems reveal both high CT attenuation and MR relaxivities (R₁ = 13.01 mM^-1sec^-1) so may be put into entry a new class of CT/MR bimodal imaging probes.