Electrosprayed synthesis of red-blood-cell-like particles with dual modality for magnetic resonance and fluorescence imaging.

Red blood cells (RBCs) are able to avoid filtration in the spleen to prolong their half-time in the body because of their flexibility and unique shape, or a concave disk with diameter of some 10 μm. In addition, they can flow through capillary blood vessels, which are smaller than the diameter of RBCs, by morphing into a parachute-like shape. In this study, flexible RBC-like polymer particles are synthesized by electrospraying based on electrospinning. Furthermore, magnetite nanoparticles and fluorescent dye are encapsulated in the particles via in situ hydrolysis of an iron-organic compound in the presence of celluloses. The superparamagnetic behavior of the particles is confirmed by low-temperature magnetic measurements. The particles exhibited not only a dark contrast in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but also effective fluorescence. The RBC-like particles with flexibility are demonstrated to have a dual-modality for MRI and fluorescence imaging.