Diagnostic Applications of Surface-Engineered Polymeric Micelles

In the past few years, the flexible chemistry of amphiphilic block copolymers (ABCs) has made them one of the unique drug delivery vehicles for biomedical applications. Most of these have been extensively explored in oncology. Their self-assembly property is one of the remarkable properties that lead to the production of polymeric micelles (PMs) above critical micelle concentration (CMC) upon addition in water. PMs have been widely explored in drug delivery-based systems but very limited work is available on their use as a diagnostic agent. Their unique-physicochemical property mostly ease of functionalization is one of the most exploited properties utilized in the diagnosis of various diseases. With agreement to this, the present chapter emphasizes the role of PMs as diagnostic agents using functionalization properties with relevant case studies.