Synthesis and characterization of polystyrene embolization particles doped with tantalum oxide nanoparticles for X-ray contrast.

Journal article

Radiopaque and fluorescent embolic particles have been synthesized and characterised to match the size of vasculature found in tumours to ensure effective occlusion of the vessels. A literature search showed that the majority of vessels surrounding a tumour were less than 50 µm and therefore polydispersed polystyrene particles with a peak size of 50 µm have been synthesised. The embolic particles contain 5-8 nm amorphous tantalum oxide nanoparticles which provide X-ray contrast. Embolic particles containing up to 9.4 wt% tantalum oxide were prepared and showed significant contrast compared to the undoped polystyrene particles. The X-ray contrast of the embolic particles was shown to be linear (R(2) = 0.9) with respect to the concentration of incorporated tantalum nanoparticles. A model was developed which showed that seventy-five 50 µm embolic particles containing 10 % tantalum oxide could provide the same contrast as 5 cm of bone. Therefore, the synthesized particles would provide sufficient X-ray contrast to enable visualisation within a tumour.

Authors: Morrison, R; Thompson, J; Bird, L; Hill, M; Townley, H

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Springer US
• Journal: Journal of materials science. Materials in medicine
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 5549
• Publication date: 2015-01-01
• DOI: 10.1007/s10856-015-5549-5
• EISSN: 1573-4838
• ISSN: 0957-4530
• Language: English