Polymeric micelles as carriers of diagnostic agents.

This review deals with diagnostic applications of polymeric micelles composed of amphiphilic block-copolymers. In aqueous solutions these polymers spontaneously form particles with diameter 20-100 nm. A variety of diagnostic moieties can be incorporated covalently or non-covalently into the particulates with high loads. Resulting particles can be used as particulate agents for diagnostic imaging using three major imaging modalities: gamma-scintigraphy, magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. The use of polyethyleneoxide-diacyllipid micelles loaded with chelated (111)In/Gd(3+) as well as iodine-containing amphiphilic copolymer in percutaneous lymphography and blood pool/liver imaging are discussed as specific examples.