Semiconductor Quantum Dots and Rods for In Vivo Imaging and Cancer Phototherapy

Cancer is fast becoming one of the main causes of death worldwide. Unfortunately many cases are diagnosed at an advanced incurable stage, and these lives are usually lost. Early diagnosis and treatment are very important for increasing disease curability. In recent years, novel techniques for cancer diagnosis and therapy have been developed, and nanobiomedicine appears to show the most promising results.

The application of nanotechnology to biology and medicine in cancer diagnosis is termed nanobiomedicine. Nanoparticles 1–100 nm in size usually have unique physical and/or chemical properties, and this has attracted great attention in the cancer research. Preparation and biomedical applications of the nanoparticles are key components in nanobiomedicine. Semiconductor nanocrystals, including quantum dots (QDs) and quantum rods (QRs), have been extensively investigated for drug delivery, biomedical imaging and tumor target therapy.

In Semiconductor Quantum Dots and Rods for In Vivo Imaging and Cancer Phototherapy, the QD and QR optical properties, sentinel lymph node mapping, in vivo tumor target imaging, self-illuminating QDs for in vivo imaging, in vivo cancer photothermal therapy and photodynamic therapy, QD-graphene nanosheet, and QD-magnetic hybrid nanocomposites for bioimaging and cancer therapy are discussed. This book may interest under- and postgraduate students in the field of bioengineering (especially cancer phototherapy) and medical professions alike.