Research Profiling of Nano-enchanced Molecular Imaging Technology

Molecular imaging, as an emerging technique in current medical diagnostics, therapy and biology science, has received more and more attention in academia, industry, as well as medical practices. And the applications of nanotechnology in this field stimulate its development. This paper explores the development of the basic research and applied research on nano-enhanced molecular imaging, and does the in-depth analysis by adopting the bibliometrics method. The results show that the US is the leader in this field, who has the absolute advantages. Germany, UK and France and Japan are the followed ones. The rapidly developing Asian countries , China and South Korea might become the potential competitors. Research network analysis draws the conclusion that the other countries and regions share the same research interests with the US. The US not only take the lead in the researching number, but also directing the future orientation of this field. However, the US has not much international collaboration. The collaboration within the country and regions show that collaboration in this field is limited to the regional adjacency. Disciplinary analysis reveals that the major subjects which relate intimately to the nano-enhanced molecular imaging are chemistry, biomedical science and material science.