Enhanced Cerenkov luminescence tomography analysis based on Y2O3:Eu3+ rare earth oxide nanoparticles.

Yongheng Gao,Yi Liu,Jing Wang,Weidong Yang,Xiaowei Ma,Guoquan Li,Wenhui Ma,Xu Cao,Zhe Wang,Zhengjie Wang,Fei Kang

doi:10.1364/boe.9.006091

Abstract

Cerenkov luminescence imaging offers a new diagnostic alternative to radiation imaging, but lacks intensity and penetration. In this study, a Cerenkov luminescence signal and its image quality were enhanced using rare earth oxide nanoparticles as a basis for Cerenkov luminescence excited fluorescence imaging and Cerenkov luminescence excited fluorescence tomography. The results also provided 3D-imaging and quantitative information. The approach was evaluated using phantom and mice models and 3D reconstruction and quantitative studies were performed in vitro, showing improved optical signal intensity, similarity, accuracy, signal-to-noise ratio, and spatial distribution information. The method offers benefits for both optical imaging research and radiopharmaceutical development.

Highlights

Cerenkov luminescence imaging (CLI) is an emerging approach to optical imaging that can image radiopharmaceuticals in vitro and in vivo in ways that are not feasible with positron emission tomography (PET) or single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) [1]
Y2O3:Eu3+ rare earth nanoparticles (RENPs) characteristics and the in vitro Cerenkov luminescence excited fluorescence imaging (CLFI) study A representative Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of the Y2O3:Eu3+ RENPs is shown in Fig. 1(a), which shows that they were basically globular in form
The emission spectrum when excited by a 300 nm laser shows that their emission distributed at the near-infrared range (600nm - 800nm) (Fig. 1(c)), which provides for a good penetration

Summary

Introduction

Cerenkov luminescence imaging (CLI) is an emerging approach to optical imaging that can image radiopharmaceuticals in vitro and in vivo in ways that are not feasible with positron emission tomography (PET) or single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) [1]. As highly sensitive charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras have started to become available, significant interest has focused upon CLI-based studies, such as Cerenkov luminescence tomography (CLT) [2,3] and its potential endoscopic [4,5,6], or quality assurance [7] applications. CLI has been applied in a few preclinical and clinical studies, its applications remain limited because of its low intensity and the poor penetration of Cerenkov luminescence (CL), which is mainly distributed in the ultraviolet and blue bands (300-520 nm), leading to mass absorption and scattering in biological tissues [11,12]. Poor imaging quality has added to the difficulty of bringing about effective Cerenkov luminescence tomography (CLT) [2]

Methods

Results

Conclusion