This study shows the potential improvement of current biomedical imaging techniques on the basis of the combined information provided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast and high-penetration near infrared (NIR) imaging from a single nanoprobe. For this, our work in J. Mater. Chem. B, 2025, 13, 9642 , doi:10.1039/d5tb00548e, presents the design of core-multishell lanthanide-doped nanostructures with a unique quasi-bidimensional morphology, and the demonstration of their behaviour as biosafe multifunctional nanoprobes integrating dual MRI contrast and NIR imaging, as well as high sensitivity contactless temperature sensing adequate for biological systems. Key advances of this study are the enhancement of the T1 MRI contrast, associated with the large surface-to-volume ratio inherent to the distinctive planar shape of developed nanoprobes, the versatility of these nanoprobes as T1, T2 and dual T1/T2 MRI contrast agents depending on the magnetic field, and the high sensitivity for temperature sensing in the second biological window, surpassing that of commonly used fluoride nanoprobes.
