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The application of mesoporous silica nanoparticles to medical imaging
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Lee, George Henry (2018) The application of mesoporous silica nanoparticles to medical imaging. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b3439476~S15
Abstract
The survival rate of previously incurable diseases in the modern era is staggering due to the rapid advancement of pharmaceutical chemistry and our understanding of the human body. However, one limitation which is still prevalent is the ability to correctly diagnose the disease in its early stages. The clear correlation between successful medical treatments and early disease diagnosis has led to numerous analytical methods being developed. Magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, has come to the fore in this field due to it being a versatile high-resolution non-invasive technique with no radiation exposure to the patient required. Considerable focus is now being applied to the development of contrast agents that can be administered to further aid diagnosis. This research has led to gadolinium-based contrast agents, GBCAs. However, the indiscriminate interactions of previous clinically used GBCAs and the emergence of gadolinium deposits in the tissues of patients after multiple scans has resulted in increased demand for MRI contrast agents with higher specificity and lower dosages. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles, MSNs, have been shown to excel in this field due to its high surface area, facile functionalisation, and low toxicity. The application of MSNs as an MRI contrast agent could therefore result in earlier diagnosis of patients and consequently less global deaths from treatable diseases (Chapter 1). So, the optimisation of the MSN structure to be utilised as a GBCA is performed by variation of the pore diameter and gadolinium ion chelate location to obtain the highest amount of contrast with the minimum dosage of gadolinium (Chapter 3). Following this investigation, the possibilities of stimuli interactive GBCAs are pursued by the formation of a polymer/MSN hybrid system which can change its properties depending on the temperature of the surrounding environment. This response is explored further by observing the tuneability of the interaction by varying the grafting density and length of the MSN bound polymer (Chapter 4). Finally, polymer/MSNs hybrid systems are investigated to allow for specific binding interactions to occur between the system and colorectal cancer cells. This begins with research into how to remove indiscriminate interactions between GBCAs and neighbouring cells. Then, having achieved this, a lectin able to differentiate between healthy and cancerous rectal cells was chemically attached to the MSN bound polymer and shown to highlight colorectal cancer cells by retention of their specific intermolecular interactions. The non-toxicity of the polymer/MSN system was confirmed in-vitro (Chapter 5).
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | Q Science > QC Physics R Medicine > RC Internal medicine |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Diagnostic imaging, Nanoparticles, Magnetic resonance imaging | ||||
Official Date: | December 2018 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Molecular Analytical Science Centre for Doctoral Training | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Davies, Gemma-Louise ; Hutchinson, Charles | ||||
Format of File: | |||||
Extent: | xxvii, 209 leaves : illustrations, charts | ||||
Language: | eng |
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