Multifunctional modification of Fe3O4 nanoparticles for diagnosis and treatment of diseases: A review

With the rapid improvements in nanomaterials and imaging technology, great progresses have been made in diagnosis and treatment of diseases during the past decades. Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with good biocompatibility and superparamagnetic property are usually used as contrast agent for diagnosis of diseases in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Currently, the combination of multiple imaging technologies has been considered as new tendency in diagnosis and treatment of diseases, which could enhance the accuracy and reliability of disease diagnosis and provide new strategies for disease treatment. Therefore, novel contrast agents used for multifunctional imaging are urgently needed. Fe3O4 MNPs are believed to be a potential candidate for construction of multifunctional platform in diagnosis and treatment of diseases. In recent years, there are a plethora of studies concerning the construction of multifunctional platform presented based on Fe3O4 MNPs. In this review, we introduce fabrication methods and modification strategies of Fe3O4 MNPs, expecting great improvements for diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the future.