Editing Nanomedicine (section)

== Imaging ==
''In vivo'' imaging is another area where tools and devices are being developed.<ref name="stendahl">{{cite journal | vauthors = Stendahl JC, Sinusas AJ | title = Nanoparticles for Cardiovascular Imaging and Therapeutic Delivery, Part 2: Radiolabeled Probes | journal = Journal of Nuclear Medicine | volume = 56 | issue = 11 | pages = 1637–41 | date = November 2015 | pmid = 26294304 | pmc = 4934892 | doi = 10.2967/jnumed.115.164145 }}</ref> Using nanoparticle [[contrast agents]], images such as ultrasound and MRI have a better distribution and improved contrast. In cardiovascular imaging, nanoparticles have potential to aid visualization of blood pooling, ischemia, [[angiogenesis]], [[atherosclerosis]], and focal areas where inflammation is present.<ref name=stendahl/>

The small size of nanoparticles gives them with properties that can be very useful in [[oncology]], particularly in imaging.<ref name=ijn2012/> Quantum dots (nanoparticles with quantum confinement properties, such as size-tunable light emission), when used in conjunction with MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), can produce exceptional images of tumor sites. [[Nanoparticle]]s of [[cadmium selenide]] ([[quantum dots]]) glow when exposed to ultraviolet light. When injected, they seep into cancer [[tumors]]. The surgeon can see the glowing tumor, and use it as a guide for more accurate tumor removal. These nanoparticles are much brighter than organic dyes and only need one light source for activation. This means that the use of fluorescent quantum dots could produce a higher contrast image and at a lower cost than today's organic dyes used as [[contrast media]]. The downside, however, is that quantum dots are usually made of quite toxic elements, but this concern may be addressed by use of fluorescent dopants, substances added to create fluorescence.<ref name="wu">{{cite journal | vauthors = Wu P, Yan XP | title = Doped quantum dots for chemo/biosensing and bioimaging | journal = Chemical Society Reviews | volume = 42 | issue = 12 | pages = 5489–521 | date = June 2013 | pmid = 23525298 | doi = 10.1039/c3cs60017c }}</ref>

Tracking movement can help determine how well drugs are being distributed or how substances are metabolized. It is difficult to track a small group of cells throughout the body, so scientists used to dye the cells. These dyes needed to be excited by light of a certain wavelength in order for them to light up. While different color dyes absorb different frequencies of light, there was a need for as many light sources as cells. A way around this problem is with luminescent tags. These tags are [[quantum dots]] attached to proteins that penetrate cell membranes.<ref name=wu/> The dots can be random in size, can be made of bio-inert material, and they demonstrate the nanoscale property that color is size-dependent. As a result, sizes are selected so that the frequency of light used to make a group of quantum dots fluoresce is an even multiple of the frequency required to make another group incandesce. Then both groups can be lit with a single light source. They have also found a way to insert [[nanoparticles]]<ref name="pmid24085009">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hewakuruppu YL, Dombrovsky LA, Chen C, Timchenko V, Jiang X, Baek S, Taylor RA | display-authors = 6 | title = Plasmonic "pump-probe" method to study semi-transparent nanofluids | journal = Applied Optics | volume = 52 | issue = 24 | pages = 6041–50 | date = August 2013 | pmid = 24085009 | doi = 10.1364/ao.52.006041 | bibcode = 2013ApOpt..52.6041H }}</ref> into the affected parts of the body so that those parts of the body will glow showing the tumor growth or shrinkage or also organ trouble.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Coffey R |title=20 Things You Didn't Know About Nanotechnology|journal=Discover|date=August 2010|volume=31|issue=6|page=96 |url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/20-things-you-didnt-know-about-nanotechnology }}</ref>