Patent ID: 8303931

Claim:
Three compartment (core-shell-corona) polymer particles having a biocompatible polymeric corona as an outer layer and having an average diameter of between 20 nm and 900 nm said particles consisting of a polymeric core as an inner layer, a shell as an intermediary layer between said core and said corona, wherein a. the said shell has a hairy structure with carboxyl groups which (i) bind paramagnetic metal ions, (ii) bind opaque material and/or (iii) bind heavy metal isotopes, wherein b. said polymeric core comprises a polymer formed from homopolymers or copolymers with at least one compound selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, methyl methacrylate, 2,3-epoxy-propyl-methacrylate, styrene, ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate, tert-butylaminoethyl methacrylate, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, hydroxypropyl methacrylate and/or vinylacetate, and wherein c. the said polymeric core is labelled via physical inclusion or chemical linkage or both using dye, fluorescence dye, or polycrystalline magnetic iron oxide, making these polymer particles suitable for optical imaging techniques, fluorescence activated cell identification and/or sorting, magnetic resonance and/or particle imaging techniques wherein d. the said corona is made from monomer units of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid alone or in combination thereof or in combination with monomers of hydroxyethyl acrylate or -methacrylate, or polyethylene glycol(PEG)-mono-methacylate.