Lung cancer and pulmonary metastasis are the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Survival for patients with lung metastases is about 5%. Nanoparticles have been developed for the imaging and treatment of various cancers, including pulmonary malignancies. In this work, we report lipid coated polymeric nanoparticles (LPNs) with an average diameter of 154 nm. In vivo performance of LPNs was characterized using optical imaging system. We expect this nanoparticle can be used for finding lung cancer or lung metastasis. Eventually loading therapeutic drug with the nanoparticle will be utilized for cancer diagnosis and effective therapy at the same time.