Fabrication of Fe3O4@PVA microspheres by one-step electrospray for magnetic resonance imaging during transcatheter arterial embolization

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has attracted increasing attention as a feasible alternative or adjunctive imaging modality for X-ray digital subtraction angiography because of the high tissue resolution and non-ionization radiation. In this study, a one-step electrospray method was developed to fabricate PVA microspheres encapsulated with in situ synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Fe3O4@PVA microspheres were mono-dispersed black spheres with a wide range of sizes (262–958 µm). The in situ-synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles were used as the contrast agent of MRI and the cross-linkers of PVA matrixes for the embolization purpose. In vivo evaluation of renal arteries of normal rabbits showed that Fe3O4@PVA microspheres had good embolic effect and enhanced capability of MRI. In vitro and in vivo biosafety assessment confirmed that Fe3O4@PVA microspheres had favorable biocompatibility. The DOX-loaded Fe3O4@PVA microspheres showed a typical drug-sustained release profile. These results suggest that the prepared DOX-loaded Fe3O4@PVA microspheres have the function of MRI, embolotherapy and chemotherapy. We expect our study could provide a simple and useful approach for the systematic design, fabrication, and application of a new type of magnetic microspheres as a triple-functional embolic agent for the development of MRI-guided TACE.