Figure 1

Direct comparison of the performances of the different tested types of AuNPs in imaging very small vessels. in vivo X-ray micrographs taken in the leg region with (a) MUA-coated AuNPs, (b) commercial ExiTron^® Nano 6000, (c) bare-AuNPs and (d) bare-AuNPs with heparin. All images in our study were taken immediately after the corresponding injections. The arrows mark the smallest observable vessels: the measured diameters are 20 μm in (a), 88 in (b), 15 in (c) and 6 in (d). The scale bar of Figure 1b, 200 μm, is valid for all four panels