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7017437 
Journal Article 
Dual-energy CT imaging of nasopharyngeal cancer cells using multifunctional gold nanoparticles 
Khademi, S; Sarkar, S; Shakeri-Zadeh, Ali; Attaran, N; Kharrazi, S; Solgi, R; Ay, MR; Azimian, H; Ghadiri, H; , 
2019 
Yes 
I E T Nanobiotechnology
ISSN: 1751-8741 
INST ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY-IET 
HERTFORD 
957-961 
31811766 
WOS:000501783000012 
The purpose of this study is to measure the concentration of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) attached to folic acid through cysteamin as the linker (FA-Cys-AuNPs) and AuNPs in KB human nasopharyngeal cancer cells using dual-energy CT (DECT). In this study, nanoparticles with a size of similar to 15 nm were synthesized and characterised using UV-Vis, TEM, FTIR and ICP-OES analyses. The non-toxicity of nanoparticles was confirmed by MTT assay under various concentrations (40-100 mu g/ml) and incubation times (6, 12 and 24 h). To develop an algorithm for revealing different concentrations of AuNPs in cells, a corresponding physical phantom filled with 0.5 ml vials containing FA-Cys-AuNPs was used. The CT scan was performed at two energy levels (80 and 140 kVp). One feature of DECT is material decomposition, which allows separation and identification of different elements. The values obtained from the DECT algorithm were compared with values quantitatively measured by ICP-OES. Cells were also incubated with AuNPs and FA-Cys-AuNPs at different concentrations and incubation times. Subsequently, by increasing the incubation time in the presence of FA-Cys-AuNPs, in comparison with AuNPs, DECT pixels were increased. Thus, FA-Cys-AuNPs could be a suitable candidate for targeted contrast agent in DECT molecular imaging of nasopharyngeal cancer cells.