I-Corps: Silicon Nanocrystals

纳米材料可以被设计和制造为具有成像和治疗功能的医疗应用。这些材料有望在未来的个性化医疗中发挥重要作用。这个I-Corps团队将探索使用发光硅纳米晶体作为生物成像标记和医学治疗剂的新纳米材料平台。硅纳米晶体提供了独特的特性，可以用于人类，提供有价值的医学信息，而没有毒副作用。I-Corps团队将确定生物相容性硅纳米晶体的临床需求和市场适用性。这个I-Corps团队已经开发出生物相容性和无毒的硅纳米晶体，它是近红外光的明亮发射器。纳米晶体可以分散在水中，与分子识别分子捆绑在一起，或者涂上表面活性剂，通过与不同细胞类型的特殊工程相互作用引入生命系统。这些材料有可能用于医学成像和治疗。硅纳米晶体可以用来产生单线态氧气或热量来触发治疗反应或作为药物释放触发器。在这个项目中，I-Corps小组打算通过进行市场研究，确定具有商业潜力的特定医疗应用的可能配方，从而迈出商业化的第一步。

Nanomaterials can be designed and created with both imaging and therapeutic function for medical applications. These materials are expected to be important for future personalized medicine. This I-Corps team will explore the use of a new nanomaterials platform of light-emitting silicon nanocrystals as bioimaging markers and therapeutic agents for medicine. Silicon nanocrystals offer unique properties that might be used in humans to provide valuable medical information without toxic side-effects. The I-Corps team will determine the clinical need and market fit for biocompatible silicon nanocrystals. This I-Corps team has developed biocompatible and non-toxic silicon nanocrystals that are bright emitters of near infrared light. The nanocrystals can be dispersed in water, tethered with molecular recognition molecules, or coated with surfactant for introduction into living systems with specifically engineered interactions with different cell types. The potential exists to use these materials for medical imaging and therapeutics. The silicon nanocrystals can be used to generate singlet oxygen or heat to trigger a therapeutic response or to act as a drug-release trigger. In this project, the I-Corps team intends to take the first step towards commercialization by identifying a possible formulation with a specific medical application with commercial potential by conducting market research.