Near-infrared dye-loaded magnetic nanoparticles as photoacoustic contrast agent for enhanced tumor imaging.

Photoacoustic (PA) tomography (PAT) has attracted extensive interest because of its optical absorption contrast and ultrasonic detection. This study aims to develop a biocompatible and biodegradable PA contrast agent particularly promising for clinical applications in human body. In this study, we presented a PA contrast agent: 1, 2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine- -[methoxy (polyethylene glycol)] (DSPE-PEG)-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with indocyanine green (ICG).