RESEARCH Multifunctional polymeric e

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Superparamagnetic nanoparticles are used in multiple bio-medical applications, such as for contrast medium in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based diagnosis, in hyperthermia applications and for tissue-specific drug delivery using an external magnetic field in cancer treatment [1]. Hyperthermia is a treatment were the target tissue is exposed to temperatures slightly higher than physiological to damage and kill cells. There are many different superparamagnetic nanoparti-cles; however, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are currently the best option for biomedicine because they are biocompatible with the body. Actually, for diagnostics, gadolinium salts (Gd-DTPA) are the gold standard contrast medium for MRI, but their reso-lution and retention time in vivo remains low (2 m