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| Nanoparticle composition | Size/sharp | Function | Figure |
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| Polyaspartic-acid- (PASP-) coated iron oxide | 200–700 nm forming rounded flakes | Specific recognition of tumor angiogenic cells due to be conjugated to RGD*1 peptides and fluorescent probes
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| Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MPIOs) | Less than 20 nm in size with crystalline cores of magnetite surrounded by a shell of dextran | The high Fe atoms content allows these nanomaterials intracellular interactions due to the magnetic field generated for MRI*2 studies
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| Monocrystalline iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs) | 4.7 nm as average size for these ultrafine almost spherical particles | When they are complexed to bioconjugates such as antibodies or fluorescent labels, they delimit tumor margins eliciting surgical resection of tumors
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| Ultrasmall gadolinium oxide (US-Gd2O3) nanocrystals | The core is 2-3 nm in size. These nanoparticles can be conjugated to target peptides or antibodies generating a diversity of structures | The very small size and superior density of these nanomaterials produce higher signal
contrast than other gadolinium-containing particles
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| Nanoshells of crystalline metals | Diameter size 50–100 nm with single or double walls covering nanoparticles | During engaged reaction metal, nanoparticles (i.e., gold) are covered with mono- or multiple layers of another metal (i.e., silver) increasing contrast in optical imaging. Also, they could be conjugated with luminescent labels |  |
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| Quantum dots (QDs) cadmium-based complexed to inert metals | The high diversity of sizes (10–20 nm) allows to use these nanomaterials in multicolor assays | The relationship between physical size of QDs and the wavelength of emitted fluorescence is referred to as “tunability”; therefore one wavelength can produce different colours depending of the size of QDs |  |
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