Gold-diamond nanodevice for hyperlocalised cancer therapy (Vol. 46 No. 5-6)

Gold nanorods can be used as remote controlled nanoheaters delivering the right amount of thermal treatment to cancer cells, thanks to diamond nanocrystals used as temperature sensors.

Precise targeting biological molecules, such as cancer cells, for treatment is a challenge, due to their sheer size. Now, the authors have proposed an advanced solution, based on a novel combination of previously used techniques, which can potentially be applied to thermal cancer therapy. The authors presented in this work an improved sensing technique for nanometre-scale heating and temperature sensing. Using a chemical method to attach gold nanorods to the surface of a diamond nanocrystal, they have invented a new biocompatible nanodevice. It is capable of delivering extremely localised heating from a near-infrared laser aimed at the gold nanorods, while accurately sensing temperature with the nanocrystals.The novelty of this study is that it shows that it is possible to use diamond nanocrystals as hypersensitive temperature sensors with a high spatial resolution—ranging from 10 to 100 nanometres—to monitor the amount of heat delivered to cancer cells.