Hyperbranched polymers for bioimaging

Hyperbranched polymers (HBPs) are highly branched macromolecules with a three-dimensional dendritic architecture. Benefiting from their highly branched topological structures, convenient synthetic procedures and unique physical/chemical properties, HBPs have been used to construct bioimaging probes and contrast agents, which exhibit enhanced stability, reduced toxicity, prolonged plasma half-life, and improved targeting specificity. Recently, the combination of these HBP-based probes or contrast agents with various imaging modalities showed great potential in biological imaging, including optical imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear imaging, and ultrasound imaging. This review summarizes the current advances in HBPs for bioimaging as well as their potential applications in clinical diagnosis.