Abstract
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique currently used in clinical practice to obtain optical biopsies of different biological tissues in a minimally invasive way. Among the contrast agents proposed to increase the efficacy of this imaging method, gold nanoshells (GNSs) are the best performing ones. However, their preparation is generally time-consuming, and they are intrinsically costly to produce. Herein, we propose a more affordable alternative to these contrast agents: Bi2Se3 nanostructured clusters with a desert rose-like morphology prepared via a microwave-assisted method. The structures are prepared in a matter of minutes, feature strong near-infrared extinction properties, and are biocompatible. They also boast a photon-to-heat conversion efficiency of close to 50%, making them good candidates as photothermal therapy agents. In vitro studies evidence the prowess of Bi2Se3 clusters as OCT contrast agents and prove that their performance is comparable to that of GNSs.
Highlights
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is emerging as a powerful, minimally invasive diagnostic tool used in clinical practice to obtain anatomical, molecular, and functional images at the ex vivo and in vivo levels
To increase the imaging potential of OCT, several contrast agents have been proposed.[17−20] Among them, plasmonic nanoparticles made of gold are the staple, owing to the strong photon scattering featured by these contrast agents at the probing wavelength used in commercially available OCT instruments mainly falling in the near-infrared (NIR) range
The expensiveness of noble metals is another shortcoming of these contrast agents, making other nanosystems that could be produced in a shorter time and with reduced costs highly desirable
Summary
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is emerging as a powerful, minimally invasive diagnostic tool used in clinical practice to obtain anatomical, molecular, and functional images at the ex vivo and in vivo levels. VBiiv2oSes3tuhdasiebs.e3e0n−3p2roven biocompatible in several in vitro and in Moving from these considerations, in this study, we propose an alternative to GNSs as contrast agents for OCT in the form of inexpensive and easy-to-prepare Bi2Se3 nanostructured clusters These structures have a desert rose-like morphology and are prepared directly in water via rapid microwave-assisted synthesis (Scheme 1). Workflow of the Proposed Study: Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Bi2Se3 Nanostructured Clusters and Their Workup, Tissue Phantom Preparation, and OCT Measurements on Phantoms in the NIR range, with roughly half of the impinging photons being scattered. These optical properties featured by the developed clusters ensure strong contrast in OCT images, with performance rivalling that featured by commercially available GNSs. Chemicals. Excel from Microsoft Office suite was the software used for statistical analysis
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