Highly efficient CT contrast agent based on barium-doped mesoporous silica nanoparticles (SiO2-Ba NPs)

Abstract

The synthesis of nanoparticles-based contrast agents (CA) has gained momentum in recent years due to their superior contrasting properties over conventional molecular counterparts. Herein, for the first time, we present the synthesis and contrasting properties evaluation of small (<50 nm) barium-doped mesoporous silica nanoparticles (SiO2-Ba NPs). We found that the X-ray attenuation efficiency of SiO2-Ba NPs was ∼4.5 times higher than that of a medically-employed Iopromide contrast agent under the same conditions. A leaching test revealed that the maximum level of Ba2+ ions escape was negligible indicating that the prepared SiO2-Ba NPs are structurally stable. Overall, the prepared SiO2-Ba NPs show great promise as effective CT contrast agents.