Nanotechnology‐Based Rapid Diagnostic Tests

Recently, various nanomaterials are used in order to develop nanotechnology‐based rapid diagnostic tests, such as metallic nanoparticles, quantum dots (QDs), silica nanospheres, magnetic nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), silicon nanowires (SiNWs), nanopores, graphene, nanostructured surfaces, and metal films. This novel nanodiagnostic approach will further develop point‐of‐care (POC) diagnostics and monitoring technologies. Nanobiosensors and microarrays of biosensors can create biochip systems and microfluidic platforms that are the most used nanofabrications for rapid diagnostic tests. These nanoplatforms are constructed for the rapid detection of various diseases or pathogen‐specific biomolecules/markers, such as DNA, proteins, whole cells (e.g., circulating tumor cells), and others. The fabrication of small‐scale portable devices with the incorporation of nanostructures will offer many advantages in the early detection of various diseases and health‐threatening infections by pathogens and in the treatment selection and treatment monitoring. The use of nanostructures in in vitro diagnostics gives the opportunity to augment the sensitivity and specificity required in clinical practice, lowers the cost and test time of the assays, and enables portable microfluidic platforms suitable for resource‐constrained settings. In this chapter, all the state‐of‐the‐art advantages in this field are discussed, starting with the nanostructures used for the fabrication of nanobiosensors, nanobiosensors arrays, and nanofluidic platforms and the nanodiagnostic use of rapid tests in the detection of pathogens, in cancer management, and glucose monitoring for the management of diabetes disease

Requirements for designing an effective metallic nanoparticle (NP)-boosted radiation therapy (RT)

Many different tumor-targeted strategies are under development worldwide to limit the side effects and improve the effectiveness of cancer therapies. One promising method is to enhance the radiosensitization of the cancer cells while reducing or maintaining the normal tissue complica-tion probability during radiation therapy using metallic nanoparticles (NPs). Radiotherapy with MV photons is more commonly available and applied in cancer clinics than high LET particle radi-otherapy, so the addition of high-Z NPs has the potential to further increase the efficacy of photon radiotherapy in terms of NP radiosensitization. Generally, when using X-rays, mainly the inner electron shells are ionized, which creates cascades of both low and high energy Auger electrons. When using high LET particles, mainly the outer shells are ionized, which give electrons with lower energies than when using X-rays. The amount of the produced low energy electrons is higher when exposing NPs to heavy charged particles than when exposing them to X-rays. Since ions traverse the material along tracks, and therefore give rise to a much more inhomogeneous dose distributions than X-rays, there might be a need to introduce a higher number of NPs when using ions compared to when using X-rays to create enough primary and secondary electrons to get the desired dose escalations. This raises the questions of toxicity. This paper provides a review of the fundamental processes controlling the outcome of metallic NP-boosted photon beam and ion beam radiation therapy and presents some experimental procedures to study the biological effects of NPs’ radio-sensitization. The overview shows the need for more systematic studies of the behavior of NPs when exposed to different kinds of ionizing radiation before applying metallic-based NPs in clinical practice to improve the effect of IR therapy

Importance of establishing radiation protection culture in Radiology Department.

The increased use of ionization radiation for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, the rapid advances in computed tomography as well as the high radiation doses delivered by interventional procedures have raised serious safety and health concerns for both patients and medical staff and have necessitated the establishment of a radiation protection culture (RPC) in every Radiology Department. RPC is a newly introduced concept. The term culture describes the combination of attitudes, beliefs, practices and rules among the professionals, staff and patients regarding to radiation protection. Most of the time, the challenge is to improve rather than to build a RPC. The establishment of a RPC requires continuing education of the staff and professional, effective communication among stakeholders of all levels and implementation of quality assurance programs. The RPC creation is being driven from the highest level. Leadership, professionals and associate societies are recognized to play a vital role in the embedding and promotion of RPC in a Medical Unit. The establishment of a RPC enables the reduction of the radiation dose, enhances radiation risk awareness, minimizes unsafe practices, and improves the quality of a radiation protection program. The purpose of this review paper is to describe the role and highlight the importance of establishing a strong RPC in Radiology Departments with an emphasis on promoting RPC in the Interventional Radiology environment

Nanoparticles: nanotoxicity aspects

The giant steps towards Nanosciences dictate the need to gain a broad knowledge about not only beneficial but also noxious properties of Nanomaterials. Apart from the remarkable advantages of Nanoparticles (NPs) in medicine and industry, there have been raised plenty of concerns about their potential adverse effects in living organisms and ecosystems as well. Without a doubt, it is of critical importance to ensure that NPs medical and industrial applications are accompanied by the essential safety so that the balance will be tilted in favor of the profits that society will earn. However, the evaluation of NPs toxic effects remains a great challenge for the scientific community due to the wealth of factors that Nanotoxicity depends on. Size, surface area, dosing, shape, surface coating and charge and bulk material are the basic parameters under investigation to assess the risk involved in NPs usage. Our purpose is to highlight NPs physical and chemical properties responsible for induced toxicity, describe the mechanisms that take place in their interaction with cells and organs and finally report the potential harmful consequences that may result from the innovative applications of Nanomaterials

Recent Advances in Cancer Therapy Based on Dual Mode Gold Nanoparticles

Many tumor-targeted strategies have been used worldwide to limit the side effects and improve the effectiveness of therapies, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy (RT), etc. Biophotonic therapy modalities comprise very promising alternative techniques for cancer treatment with minimal invasiveness and side-effects. These modalities use light e.g., laser irradiation in an extracorporeal or intravenous mode to activate photosensitizer agents with selectivity in the target tissue. Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a minimally invasive technique for cancer treatment which uses laser-activated photoabsorbers to convert photon energy into heat sufficient to induce cells destruction via apoptosis, necroptosis and/or necrosis. During the last decade, PTT has attracted an increased interest since the therapy can be combined with customized functionalized nanoparticles (NPs). Recent advances in nanotechnology have given rise to generation of various types of NPs, like gold NPs (AuNPs), designed to act both as radiosensitizers and photothermal sensitizing agents due to their unique optical and electrical properties i.e., functioning in dual mode. Functionalized AuNPS can be employed in combination with non-ionizing and ionizing radiation to significantly improve the efficacy of cancer treatment while at the same time sparing normal tissues. Here, we first provide an overview of the use of NPs for cancer therapy. Then we review many recent advances on the use of gold NPs in PTT, RT and PTT/RT based on different types of AuNPs, irradiation conditions and protocols. We refer to the interaction mechanisms of AuNPs with cancer cells via the effects of non-ionizing and ionizing radiations and we provide recent existing experimental data as a baseline for the design of optimized protocols in PTT, RT and PTT/RT combined treatment

Quantification of Nanoscale Dose Enhancement in Gold Nanoparticle-Aided External Photon Beam Radiotherapy

The recent progress in Nanotechnology has introduced Gold Nanoparticles (AuNPs) as promising radiosensitizing agents in radiation oncology. This work aims to estimate dose enhancement due to the presence of AuNPs inside an irradiated water region through Monte Carlo calculations. The GATE platform was used to simulate 6 MV photon histories generated from a TrueBeam® linear accelerator with and without a Flattening Filter (FF) and model AuNPs clusters. The AuNPs size, concentration and distribution pattern were examined. To investigate different clinical irradiation conditions, the effect of field size, presence of FF and placement of AuNPs in water were evaluated. The range of Dose Enhancement Factors (DEF = DoseAu/DoseWater) calculated in this study is 0.99 ± 0.01–1.26 ± 0.02 depending on photon beam quality, distance from AuNPs surface, AuNPs size and concentration and pattern of distribution. The highest DEF is reported for irradiation using un-flattened photon beams and at close distances from AuNPs. The obtained findings suggest that dose deposition could be increased in regions that represent whole cells or subcellular targets (mitochondria, cell nucleus, etc.). Nevertheless, further and consistent research is needed in order to make a step toward AuNP-aided radiotherapy in clinical practice

Requirements for Designing an Effective Metallic Nanoparticle (NP)-Boosted Radiation Therapy (RT)

Simple Summary Recent advances in nanotechnology gave rise to trials with various types of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) to enhance the radiosensitization of cancer cells while reducing or maintaining the normal tissue complication probability during radiation therapy. This work reviews the physical and chemical mechanisms leading to the enhancement of ionizing radiation’s detrimental effects on cells and tissues, as well as the plethora of experimental procedures to study these effects of the so-called “NPs’ radiosensitization”. The paper presents the need to a better understanding of all the phases of actions before applying metallic-based NPs in clinical practice to improve the effect of IR therapy. More physical and biological experiments especially in vivo must be performed and simulation Monte Carlo or mathematical codes based on more accurate models for all phases must be developed. Many different tumor-targeted strategies are under development worldwide to limit the side effects and improve the effectiveness of cancer therapies. One promising method is to enhance the radiosensitization of the cancer cells while reducing or maintaining the normal tissue complication probability during radiation therapy using metallic nanoparticles (NPs). Radiotherapy with MV photons is more commonly available and applied in cancer clinics than high LET particle radiotherapy, so the addition of high-Z NPs has the potential to further increase the efficacy of photon radiotherapy in terms of NP radiosensitization. Generally, when using X-rays, mainly the inner electron shells are ionized, which creates cascades of both low and high energy Auger electrons. When using high LET particles, mainly the outer shells are ionized, which give electrons with lower energies than when using X-rays. The amount of the produced low energy electrons is higher when exposing NPs to heavy charged particles than when exposing them to X-rays. Since ions traverse the material along tracks, and therefore give rise to a much more inhomogeneous dose distributions than X-rays, there might be a need to introduce a higher number of NPs when using ions compared to when using X-rays to create enough primary and secondary electrons to get the desired dose escalations. This raises the questions of toxicity. This paper provides a review of the fundamental processes controlling the outcome of metallic NP-boosted photon beam and ion beam radiation therapy and presents some experimental procedures to study the biological effects of NPs’ radiosensitization. The overview shows the need for more systematic studies of the behavior of NPs when exposed to different kinds of ionizing radiation before applying metallic-based NPs in clinical practice to improve the effect of IR therapy

Patient and staff radiation dosimetry during cardiac electrophysiology studies and catheter ablation procedures: a comprehensive analysis

Aims To perform a comprehensive analysis of all aspects of patient and in-room personnel radiation dosimetry in interventional electrophysiology. Methods and results Measurements were performed during 19 diagnostic electrophysiology studies and 24 catheter ablations. Kerma-area product and exposure time values were 48.7 (6.4-230) Gy cm(2) and 25.5 (4.4-79.2) min for ablation, and 12.5 (4.5-117.2) Gy cm(2) and 4.5 (1.2-31) min for diagnostic studies, respectively. Patient effective doses were 15.2 (2.1-59.6) mSv for ablation and 3.2 (1.3-23.9) mSv for diagnostic procedures. Radiation risk to the patient was estimated to be up to eight cases of fatal cancer in 10 000 procedures. The risk of development of fatal cancer was less than 3 x 10(-6) per procedure to the primary operator. The risk for the nurse and technician was much tower. The dose per procedure for the primary operator was 7.1 mu Gy at the eyes, 0.79 mu Gy at the chest under the lead apron, 13.68 mu y at the chest over the apron, 3.82 mu Gy at the thyroid, 17.76 mu Gy at the left hand, and 12.11 mu Gy at the left knee. Conclusion As far as radiation exposure is concerned, etectrophysiology studies followed by radiofrequency ablation are safe procedures for both patient and personnel when performed in catheterization laboratories with modern equipment, experienced operators, and standard safety precautions