Dual Nanoparticle Conjugates for Highly Sensitive and Versatile Sensing Using F Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Fluorine magnetic resonance imaging ( F MRI) has emerged as an attractive alternative to conventional H MRI due to enhanced specificity deriving from negligible background signal in this modality. We report a dual nanoparticle conjugate (DNC) platform as an aptamer-based sensor for use in F MRI. DNC consists of core-shell nanoparticles with a liquid perfluorocarbon core and a mesoporous silica shell ( F-MSNs), which give a robust F MR signal, and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as magnetic quenchers.