Introduction to Nanotheranostics

This Brief will give an introduction to the current status of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) and other nanomaterials that have potential applications in nanomedicine. Inorganic NPs are generally classified into six different types: (A) Noble metal NPs such as gold (Au), silver (Ag), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd); (B) Semiconducting NPs or quantum dots (QDs) such as cadmium selenide (CdSe), cadmium sulphide (CdS), cadmium telluride (CdTe), zinc sulphide (ZnS), zinc selenide (ZnSe), zinc telluride (ZnTe), zinc oxide (ZnO); (C) Doped NPs such as manganese (Mn)—doped ZnS or ZnSe; (D) Magnetic NPs such as iron oxide (Fe2O3/Fe3O4), iron-platinum (FePt), cobalt (Co); (E) Upconversion NPs (e.g. NaYF4—doped Er, Yb), and (F) Multifunctional NPs (combination of two or three NPs).