Current Trends in Nanotheranostics: A Concise Review on Bioimaging and Smart Wearable Technology

Abstract

The area of interventional nanotheranostics combines the use of interventional procedures with nanotechnology for the detection and treatment of physiological disorders. Using catheters or endoscopes, for example, interventional techniques make use of minimally invasive approaches to diagnose and treat medical disorders. It is feasible to increase the precision of these approaches and potency by integrating nanotechnology. To visualize and target various parts of the body, such as tumors or obstructed blood veins, one can utilize nanoscale probes or therapeutic delivery systems. Interventional nanotheranostics offers targeted, minimally invasive therapies that can reduce side effects and enhance patient outcomes, and it has the potential to alter the way that many medical illnesses are handled. Clinical enrollment and implementation of such laboratory scale theranostics approach in medical practice is promising for the patients where the user can benefit by tracking its physiological state. This review aims to introduce the most recent advancements in the field of clinical imaging and diagnostic techniques as well as newly developed on-body wearable devices to deliver therapeutics and monitor its due alleviation in the biological milieu.

Figure 1

(Column A) The liposomal nanoreporter ⁸⁹Zr-NRep modified with ⁸⁹Zr-chelating desferrioxamine (DFO) used as PET contrast agent; Representative images of 4T1 tumour-bearing mice with high 89Zr-NRep uptake . Copyright 2016, Nature. (Column B) Schematic illustration of the fabrication of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-bilirubin (BR) protected gold nanopartilces (AuNPs) as glutathione-sensitive CT contrast agent; Representative images of the abdomens of healthy mice administered PEG-BR@AuNPs compared to thiolated PEG-S@AuNPs shows bright contrast with PEG-BR@AuNPs in the liver . Copyright 2021, American Chemical Society. (Column C) Schematic representation of the multifunctional AuNP-based MRI contrast agent protected by cyclodextrin, 1-adamantanecarbonyl chloride, polyethylene glycol, lysine and diethylenetriaminepentacetate acid bound gadolinium conjugated with folic acid (AuNP@CD-AD-PEG2000-PLL(DTPA-Gd)- FA); Comparison of magnetic resonance images of tumor-bearing mice injected with different contrast agents (yellow dot: tumor region) . Copyright 2022, Elsevier.

Figure 2

(A) Illustration showing the depth to which human skin is penetrated by light. While blue and ultraviolet light scarcely enter tissue, red light extinguishes at 4-5 mm beneath the skin's surface Copyright 2017, Springer. (B) IR thermal images showing Melanin, Perfluorohexane (PFH) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) loaded liposomes (melanin@PFH@5-FU-liposomes) generating heat upon NIR 808 nm light. (C) Ultrasound images of tumor tissues in CT26-bearing mice before and after laser irradiation at 1 h, 4 h, and 12 h after intravenous injection of melanin@PFH@5-FU-liposomes . Copyright 2022, Springer Nature.

Figure 3

(A) Schematic illustration of the multifunctional nanoplatform for efficiently photoacoustic imaging-guided sonodynamic therapy to tumor cells/tissue . Copyright 2018, IvySpring. (B) Schematics of soft-photoacoustic patch for detection of hemoglobin and measuring temperature. The hemoglobin molecules in red blood cells go through a thermoelastic expansion after absorbing optical energy, which then transmits acoustic waves into the surrounding media. The transducer array will gather the photoacoustic waves and then transmit them to a backend system for data processing . Copyright 2022, Nature.

Figure 4

(Panel A) Fluorescent color change in Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-europium (Eu) coordination polymer mats at excitation wavelength 397 nm: (A) with different concentration of H₂O₂, (B) with different incubation time of H₂O₂ (200 μM); (C) on the wound after bacterial non-infection and (D) on the wound after bacterial infection . Copyright 2020, Elsevier. (Panel B) (a) Schematics representation of the fabrication of regenerated Bacterial Cellulose (rBC)-based hydrogels incorporating Ti₃C₂T_x MXene through chemical and physical crosslinking; (b) Diagram of the mechanism of synthesizing rBC/MXene composite hydrogels . Copyright 2020, Wiley.