Abstract
BackgroundStem cell therapy has a huge potential to enhance the recovery of damaged tissues and organs. However, it has been reported that majority of implanted stem cells cannot survive after implantation. Therefore, noninvasive monitoring of stem cell viability is essential to estimate the efficacy of stem cell therapy. However, current imaging methods have disadvantages for monitoring of stem cell viability such as cost, penetration depth, and safety. To overcome the limitations, photoacoustic imaging well known for sufficient penetration depth, relatively low cost, and non-ionizing radiation can be a novel alternative assessment method of stem cell viability. MethodsIn this study, indocyanine green was used as exogenous photoacoustic contrast agents to label mesenchymal stem cells. The photoacoustic signals were acquired before and after the cell death and quantified to monitor photoacoustic signal changes related to the cell viability. ResultsThe fluorescence intensity changes of ICG labeled MSCs corresponded to decrease of PA intensity after cell death. Furthermore, the PA imaging of MSCs showed similarity between the PA intensity and the cell viability. ConclusionThe experimental results imply the feasibility of noninvasive detection of stem cell viability during therapeutic procedures.
Published Version
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