Multifunctional superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles: design, synthesis and biomedical photonic applications.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have shown great promise in biomedical applications. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in the design and fabrication of core-shell and hetero-structured SPIONs and further outline some exciting developments and progresses of these multifunctional SPIONs for diagnosis, multimodality imaging, therapy, and biophotonics.