BiFeO3@BSA-Gd2O3 Nanoparticles as Contrast Agent for Dual Imaging

Developing nanoparticles with multimodal contrast agents with therapeutic and contrast effects can greatly improve disease diagnosis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) are sophisticated medical imaging modalities utilized for visualizing internal tissues and bones, facilitating the diagnosis of organ-related ailments and diseases. In MRI, bovine serum albumin (BSA) is a well-known compound used to carry gadolinium oxide as a contrast agent. Bismuth ferrite nanoparticles (BiFeO3 NPs) have been identified as a novel multifunctional therapeutic agent suitable for applications in radiotherapy, MRI, CT, and as mediators for magnetic hyperthermia. This study presents new NPs that can serve as dual imaging contrast agents for MRI and CT. These novel nanoparticles (BiFeO3@BSA-Gd2O3) consist of BiFeO3 nanoparticles, with BSA acting as a carrier for gadolinium oxide nanoparticles. BiFeO3 was synthesized by the sol-gel method and covered with a BSA layer, then gadolinium oxide was added to the BSA layer. Synthesized nanoparticles were identified using different physicochemical methods. The Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectroscopy (ICP) confirms the existence of Gd, Bi, and Fe in the nanoparticle and the average size of nanoparticles regarding to SEM was 120 nm. The presence of BiFeO3 nanoparticles as a promising agent with multi-functional properties such as CT and MRI imaging and BSA-Gd2O3 as an MRI contrast agent, the newly synthesized nanoparticle has the potential to be used as nanomedicine for simultaneous MRI and CT as a Dual imaging contrast.