Fig. 1. Contrasting agents in medical imaging (photos are provided by the authors of this article). A, B. A contrast-enhanced ultrasound scan of the liver with a metastatic lesion: A — the arterial phase (14 seconds after the injection of SonoVue), 1 — peripheral enhancement; 2 — no enhancement in the central region; B — the gray-scale B-mode. C. A contrast-enhanced MR image of a rat’s spleen (enhancement with iron oxide PEG-shell nanoparticles)

Fig. 2. The Ag nanostructured surface for SERS-based analysis. A. An optical microphotograph of silver rings. B. Living red blood cells on the nanostructured surface. C. Nanostructured elements of the surface (Ag nanoparticles in the substrate channels, TEM). D. “Sesame seeds” on the nanostructured substrate (SEM). E. SERS spectra of red blood cells (1) and mitochondria (2 and 3) on the Ag@SiO₂ nanocomposite at laser excitation wavelength of 532 nm (1 and 3) and 514 nm (2). For convenience, the spectra were normalized to their total intensity. Figures above the spectra indicate the position of peak maxima. The inset plot shows unnormalized SERS spectra of mitochondria on the Ag@SiO₂ nanocomposite at laser excitation wavelength of 514 and 532 nm