Patent ID: 8795733

Claim:
A nanocomposite system encapsulating nanoparticle elements not present in a living body for detection of reactive oxygen species, said nanocomposite system comprising a miniature device in a form of a chamber containing therein nanocomposite including a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging nanoparticle component and a reporting nanoparticle component that comprises nanoparticles including one or more imaging agent, and having an exterior semi-permeable membrane encapsulating both nanoparticle components within the chamber; said ROS-scavenging nanoparticle component comprising polymer coated cerium oxide nanoparticles, and said nanocomposite comprising a multimodal nanocomposite formed by chemical conjugation of the polymer coated cerium oxide nanoparticles and the reporting nanoparticle component; said (ROS)-scavenging nanoparticle component and said reporting nanoparticle component communicating with an aqueous environment outside of said chamber through the semi-permeable membrane that permits diffusion of the reactive oxygen species therethrough; said ROS-scavenging nanoparticle component of the nanocomposite protecting the reporting nanoparticle component from the reactive oxygen species under the normal physiological condition; said reporting nanoparticle component in the chamber incurring an imaging detectable change in the presence of an elevated non-physiological level of the reactive oxygen species associated with an aberrant clinical condition, thereby indicating the presence of an elevated non-physiological level of the reactive oxygen species.