Facile Fabrication of BiF3: Ln (Ln\u2009=\u2009Gd, Yb, Er)@PVP Nanoparticles for High-Efficiency Computed Tomography Imaging

Jiajing Liu,Sihan Ma,Yuqiang Chen,Shengyu Wang,Jun Xie,Xian Luo,Fanghong Luo,Zonglang Zhou,Jianghua Yan

doi:10.1186/s11671-021-03591-2

Jiajing Liu, Sihan Ma + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s11671-021-03591-2

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Abstract

X-ray computed tomography (CT) has been widely used in clinical practice, and contrast agents such as Iohexol are often used to enhance the contrast of CT imaging between normal and diseased tissue. However, such contrast agents can have some toxicity. Thus, new CT contrast agents are urgently needed. Owing to the high atomic number (Z = 83), low cost, good biological safety, and great X-ray attenuation property (5.74 cm2 kg−1 at 100 keV), bismuth has gained great interest from researchers in the field of nano-sized CT contrast agents. Here, we synthesized BiF3: Ln@PVP nanoparticles (NPs) with an average particle size of about 380 nm. After coating them with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), the BiF3: Ln@PVP NPs possessed good stability and great biocompatibility. Meanwhile, compared with the clinical contrast agent Iohexol, BiF3: Ln@PVP NPs showed superior in vitro CT imaging contrast. Subsequently, after in situ injection with BiF3: Ln@PVP NPs, the CT value of the tumor site after the injection was significantly higher than that before the injection (the CT value of the pre-injection and post-injection was 48.9 HU and 194.58 HU, respectively). The morphology of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract can be clearly observed over time after oral administration of BiF3: Ln@PVP NPs. Finally, the BiF3: Ln@PVP NPs were completely discharged from the GI tract of mice within 48 h of oral administration with no obvious damage to the GI tract. In summary, our easily synthesized BiF3: Ln@PVP NPs can be used as a potential clinical contrast agent and may have broad application prospects in CT imaging.

Highlights

X-ray computed tomography (CT) can image internal tissues and organs in a cross-sectional way with high resolution and low price [1, 2]
The CT value of the unit mass concentration of BiF3: Ln@PVP NPs is much higher than that of Iohexol (1.5- and 1.7-fold higher than that at 50 kV and 80 kV, respectively). These results indicate that the B iF3: Ln@PVP NPs can provide better contrast effect at the same doses versus commercial Iohexol; these data confirm that the BiF3: Ln@PVP NPs have good in vitro CT imaging capability, which is of great significance because it can reduce the amount of contrast agent while ensuring good imaging effects
The results indicate that the BiF3: Ln@PVP NPs have great in vivo CT imaging ability

Summary

Introduction

X-ray computed tomography (CT) can image internal tissues and organs in a cross-sectional way with high resolution and low price [1, 2]. It is an important means to diagnose respiratory diseases, digestive diseases, and urinary system diseases [3,4,5,6,7,8]. CT sometimes has low contrast between diseased tissues and normal tissues. Contrast agents such as Iohexol are widely. Nanomaterials have shown broad application prospects in environmental remediation, photovoltaic applications, catalysts, etc. Balati et al [22] have synthesized a heterostructured photocatalyst (HBTiO2/RBIHM-MoS2) using pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) followed by microwave irradiation.

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