Nanoclusters for Medicine
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: School of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
This project aims to scale up the production of nanoclusters and create nanoclusters for use in medical applications. This will be achieved through the development of the Matrix Assembly Cluster Source (MACS), with the aim of creating grams of clusters per hour. The MACS will then be used to create binary clusters, specifically gold/gadolinium and gold/boron. Gold is biocompatible and the interactions between gold nanoparticles and proteins have been widely researched, making them easy to functionalise. Boron and gadolinium have both been mooted for use in Neutron Capture Therapy, a novel cancer treatment, due to there high propensity to capture slow neutrons (especially boron). Additionally, gadolinium is the most commonly-used MRI contrast agent, so gold/gadolinium nanoclusters could be used to both image and treat cancer.
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/N509590/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2021 | |||
| 1816890 | Studentship | EP/N509590/1 | 01/10/2016 | 31/03/2020 | Alexander Pattinson |
| Description | National Centre for Electron Microscopy |
| Organisation | Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Development of tungsten tip as a sample platform for electron tomography |
| Collaborator Contribution | Carried out electron tomography experiments using TEAM0.5 microscope in NCEM. |
| Impact | Tomography carried out on bare tungsten tip and gold nanoparticle on the end of a tungsten tip. |
| Start Year | 2011 |