| Columbia,
MO – November 16, 2004 Although
they are one millionth the size of a human hair and
are so small they cannot be seen with the naked eye,
nanoparticles may become one of the most significant
new products in the biomedical field thanks to University
of Missouri-Columbia researchers who have developed
a procedure to make them that is 240 times faster than
previous methods.
Today, nanoparticles are used
in applications as varied as making laundry detergent
to medicines. However, for them to be beneficial in
biomedical applications, they must be manufactured
quickly under biologically friendly conditions. Currently
that process takes 20 to 40 hours. Kattesh Katti,
MU professor of radiology, physics and a senior research
scientist at the MU Research Reactor; Raghuraman Kannan,
research assistant professor of radiology and Kavita
Katti, senior research chemist in radiology, have
reduced the time to create gold and silver nanoparticles
at room temperature to five to 10 minutes.
"If nanoparticles are
to be used for optical imaging within the body, it
is pivotal to be able to generate silver nanoparticles
at a specific site within the body almost instantaneously,"
Kattesh Katti said. "Methods that require excessive
heating for long durations will have limited biomedical
utility."
Gold nanoparticles are biologically
benign and are used to make biosensors for disease
detection, produce electronic materials and treat
cancer. Silver nanoparticles have potential applications
in diagnostic biomedical optical imaging. Silver nanoparticles
also are extensively used as anti-bacterial agents
in the health industry, food storage, textile coatings
and a number of environmental applications. They are
superior to nanoparticles made of other materials
because of their imaging capabilities and their resonance.
Katti said nanoscience represents
an exciting new area of science for the 21st century.
Working with MU Physics Professor Meera Chandrasekhar,
Assistant Professor of Physics Suchi Guha, and graduate
assistant Vijaya Kattumuri, Katti and Kannan also
are examining the light imaging properties of nanoparticles.
Katti says his lab will be able to supply nanoparticles
for other research labs.
"Our objective is to develop
our own research and student training in nanoscience
and nanotechnology and assist with research across
the campus," Katti said. "Once we have done
that, we will certainly be able to help researchers
all across the United States."
MU has filed a patent request
with the United States Patent Office on the silver
nanoparticles. A patent for the gold nanoparticles
will be filed later this month.
Contact:
Cheri Ghan
Sr. Information Specialist
573-882-6217
GhanC@missouri.edu
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