Magnetic nanoparticles-based diagnostics and theranostics

In recent years, enormous efforts have been made to translate nanotechnology innovations into medical practice. The main focuses were diagnosis and therapy with recent emphasis on multi-modal imaging. Since in many instance the sites for imaging and therapy are the same it became apparent that targeted magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), which can be imaged, can also be used as a platform for theranostics applications. MNPs, which are characterized by high surface-to-volume ratios, are not only excellent scaffolds for loading targeting moieties, imaging tags and drugs, but can themselves be used to induce therapeutic effects making them the platform of choice for theranostics applications. In the current assay we will outline some of the recent progress in the synthesis and functionalization of MNPs, as well as their applications in multimodal imaging. The main body of the present essay, however, focuses on recent theranostic applications of such MNPs.