Cell Studies of BiFeO$_{3}$ nanoparticles for multimodal imaging

There is considerable interest in using nanoparticles as contrast agents to improve diagnostic imaging. BiFeO$_{3}$ nanoparticles may be particularly interesting as multimodal contrast agents for both magnetic resonance imaging and x-ray imaging because these combine a large magnetic susceptibility with high atomic mass constituents. We synthesized BiFeO$_{3}$ nanoparticles using a chemical co-precipitation technique. We measured the structural and morphological characteristics of these nanoparticles using x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and zeta potential, and probed the magnetic properties through both ac and dc magnetization studies. In order to investigate the cytotoxicity and intracellular distribution of these BiFeO$_{3}$ nanoparticles, we cultured them with mouse insulinoma MIN 6 cells and used optical microscopy to investigate the distribution and cell growth. We discuss the cytotoxicity of these nanoparticles, which will be crucial factor for determining possible biomedical applications together with a discussion of the cellular distribution of these nanoparticles.