Nanoparticle-based Thermal Contrast Agents

This invention is a unique concept of developing thermal contrast agents to report the detection of a molecule, cells, or tissues. It utilized nanoparticles as probes in hiological and medical detection. The unique aspect of this research is that it did not utilize the colorimetric or fluorescence properties of a nanoparticle as the detection signal but rather, the heat generated from the nanoparticle. This is very unique concept of developing thermal contrast agents to report the detection of a molecule, cells, or tissues.