DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FUNCTIONALIZED SUPERPARAMAGNETIC NANOPARTICLES FOR INTERSTITIAL APPLICATIONS By Samuel James Kuhn Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Biomedical Engineering December 2005 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Todd D. Giorgio Dennis E. Hallahan Frederick R. Haselton Vito Quaranta Franz J. Baudenbacher