Abstract
Metastasis frequently occurs even in the early stage of breast cancer. This research studied the feasibility of using photoacoustic (PA) imaging for identifying metastasis in the lymph vessels of mice. The photoacoustic efficiency of various contrast agents was investigated, and the influence of scattered light was evaluated by using a lymph vessel phantom. The lymph vessels of mice were then visualized using the selected contrast agents: indocyanine green (ICG) and gold nanorods (AuNR). The attenuation of the PA imaging was −1.90 dB/mm, whereas that of the fluorescence imaging was −4.45 dB/mm. The results indicate the potential of identifying sentinel lymph nodes by using PA imaging with these contrast agents.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, accounting for 25% of all cancers in women [1]
Computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), mammography, and ultrasonography are used in breast cancer screening, but early-stage breast cancers less than 10 mm in diameter are difficult to detect
Those of the PA imaging were close to the diameter of the PTFE tubes with injected indocyanine green (ICG)
Summary
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, accounting for 25% of all cancers in women [1]. Computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), mammography, and ultrasonography are used in breast cancer screening, but early-stage breast cancers less than 10 mm in diameter are difficult to detect. Besides biopsy [2,3], fluorescence imaging [4,5,6] and radioactive colloid tracers [7] are used for identifying this node. Fluorescence imaging uses indocyanine green (ICG), which is a cyanine dye. The dye flows through lymph vessels, which have a typical diameter of 100–150 mm, and it allows them to be visualized in real time. The tracer method involves injecting radioactive colloid into the area of the tumor. These methods are not without their problems.
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