Targeted Aucore-Agshell nanorods as a dual-functional contrast agent for photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy.

Yiwen Shi,Dong Peng,Dong Peng,Dong Peng,Xinyu Chai,Kun Wang,Kun Wang,Chuanqing Zhou,Qiushi Ren,Jie Tian

doi:10.1364/boe.7.001830

Abstract

Optimizing contrast enhancement is essential for producing specific signals in biomedical imaging and therapy. The potential of using Aucore-Agshell nanorods (Au@Ag NRs) as a dual-functional theranostic contrast agent is demonstrated for effective cancer imaging and treatments. Due to its strong NIR absorption and high efficiency of photothermal conversion, effects of both photoacoustic tomography (PAT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) are enhanced significantly. The PAT signal grows by 45.3% and 82% in the phantom and in vivo experiments, respectively, when compared to those using Au NRs. In PTT, The maximum increase of tissue temperature treated with Au@Ag NRs is 22.8 °C, twice that with Au NRs. Results of the current study show the feasibility of using Au@Ag NRs for synergetic PAT with PTT. And it will enhance the potential application on real-time PAT guided PTT, which will greatly benefit the customized PTT treatment of cancer.

Highlights

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) is an emerging optical imaging modality that obtains functional and molecular information in real time [1, 2]
The transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis confirmed the thicknesses of Ag shells were about 1.2 nm, 2.3 nm and 3.2 nm (Fig. 1(b)-1(d)), while the length of Au NRs was about 59.4 nm and the width about 18 nm
While the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of Au NRs located at 770 nm

Summary

Introduction

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) is an emerging optical imaging modality that obtains functional and molecular information in real time [1, 2] It is an innovation on the advantages of optical imaging method and cost-effective ultrasound imaging method. Employing exogenous contrast in PAT will further expand its sensitivity and functionality in applications [5,6,7] It offers the possibility of combining diagnosis with therapy, such as photothermal therapy (PTT) [8, 9]. To achieve better optical effectiveness, this method requires photoabsorbers and photothermal convectors to release heat production in a localized region [11] Both PAT and PTT call for an imaging contrast agent and an effectively therapeutic agent

Methods

Results

Conclusion