The construction and application of nanoparticulate CT contrast agents

X-ray computed tomography(CT) is a widely used biomedical imaging procedure in clinic,which brings great convenience for the detection of many diseases,especially cancer. Current commercialized CT contrast agents are mainly small iodinated molecules. These agents suffer from drawbacks such as short blood-half life,renal toxicity and limited contrast ability. The emergence of nanoparticulate CT contrast media can not only increase the contrast agents' contrast properties but also provide a good platform for constructing multifunctional imaging probes. The research progress in the construction and application of nanoparticulate CT contrast agents are reviewed and the development tendency in this field is discussed.