The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7482 p673
15 December 2007

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Intravascular nanoparticles

Researchers have demonstrated the feasibility of delivering drugs direct to areas of tissue by triggering release from intravascular nanoparticles (Advanced Materials 2007;19:3932).

Nanoparticles could be individually targeted at tumours, researchers suggest. They go on to show how the release of a biomolecule from a nanoparticle in living tissue can be triggered from outside the body by an electromagnetic field.

In addition, the authors propose, magnetic resonance imaging could be used to visualise diseased tissue and guide application of electromagnetic energy, enabling directed drug delivery with minimal exposure to surrounding tissue.