Abstract
We report on the enhanced optical transmittance in the NIR wavelength range (900 to 2400 nm) offered by a transparent Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) implant coupled with optical clearing agents (OCAs). The enhancement in optical access to the brain is evaluated upon comparing ex-vivo transmittance measurements of mice native skull and the YSZ cranial implant with scalp and OCAs. An increase in transmittance of up to 50% and attenuation lengths of up to 2.4 mm (i.e., a five-fold increase in light penetration) are obtained with the YSZ implant and the OCAs. The use of this ceramic implant and the biocompatible optical clearing agents offer attractive features for NIR optical techniques for brain theranostics.
Highlights
The brain is protected by different tissue layers, each of them having different optical properties; the analysis of the spectral features provide information about these different layers [1]
We evaluate the use of optical clearing agents (OCAs) in the scalp, their effects on the optical transmittance in the Near Infrared (NIR) spectral range
The transmittance measurements (Fig. 3(a)) show that the Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) implant is more transparent throughout the tested NIR range (900-2400 nm) including all of the optical windows commonly used for biophotonic applications (i.e., NIR I, NIR II, SWIR I and SWIR II)
Summary
The brain is protected by different tissue layers, each of them having different optical properties (e.g., refractive index contrast, scattering and absorption); the analysis of the spectral features provide information about these different layers [1]. Some spectral regions in the Near Infrared (NIR) spectral range (800 to 2500 nm) offers advantages such as reduced scattering and absorption as well as a deeper penetration depth in tissue media [2,3,4] Because of these features, some spectral windows within the NIR wavelength range have shown promising results for brain studies, including deep imaging, diagnostics and therapeutic applications in brain diseases [5,6,7,8]. We report on the enhancement in optical access provided by the transparent YSZ implant for brain studies in the NIR wavelength range Because this cranial implant is sought as a means to obtain optical access for post-operatory and prolonged diagnostics and/or therapy purposes, scalp scattering must be overcome. The total attenuation lengths were calculated showing that this combination (YSZ and OCAs) offers the best option for gaining improved optical access to the brain
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