Noninvasive near‐infrared (NIR) light ranging from 650 to 1000 nm (NIR‐I) is widely employed in fundamental research and clinical applications; however, a recently discovered second NIR (NIR‐II) window from 1000 to 1700 nm exhibits even better deep‐tissue imaging capability due to reduced photon scattering, minimized tissue autofluorescence, and increased applicable power at longer wavelengths. This review focuses on recent advances of organic contrast agents developed for in vivo fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging in the NIR‐II optical window. The superiority of the NIR‐II over the NIR‐I window for molecular imaging is first discussed in detail, followed by discussion of fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging of cancer, vasculature, and the brain using organic contrast agents in the NIR‐II window. At last, challenges and perspectives of organic contrast agents for NIR‐II in vivo imaging are suggested. 相似文献
The transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) holds great promise for the treatment of a plethora of human diseases, but new noninvasive procedures are needed to monitor the cell fate in vivo. Already largely used in medical diagnostics, the fluorescent dye indocyanine green (ICG) is an established dye to track limited numbers of cells by optical imaging (OI), but it can also be visualized by photoacoustic imaging (PAI), which provides a higher spatial resolution than pure near infrared fluorescence imaging (NIRF). Because of its successful use in clinical and preclinical examinations, we chose ICG as PAI cell labeling agent. Optimal incubation conditions were defined for an efficient and clinically translatable MSC labeling protocol, such that no cytotoxicity or alterations of the phenotypic profile were observed, and a consistent intracellular uptake of the molecule was achieved. Suspensions of ICG‐labeled cells were both optically and optoacoustically detected in vitro, revealing a certain variability in the photoacoustic spectra acquired by varying the excitation wavelength from 680 to 970 nm. Intramuscular engraftments of ICG‐labeled MSCs were clearly visualized by both PAI and NIRF over few days after transplantation in the hindlimb of healthy mice, suggesting that the proposed technique retains a considerable potential in the field of transplantation‐focused research and therapy. Stem cells were labeled with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)‐approved fluorescent dye ICG, and detected by both PAI and OI, enabling to monitor the cell fate safely, in dual modality, and with good sensitivity and improved spatial resolution. 相似文献
A wearable scanning photoacoustic imaging (wPAI) system is presented for noninvasive brain study in behaving rats. This miniaturized wPAI system consists of four pico linear servos and a single transducer‐based PAI probe. It has a dimension of 50 mm × 35 mm × 40 mm, and a weight of 26 g excluding cablings. Phantom evaluation shows that wPAI achieves a lateral resolution of ~0.5 mm and an axial resolution of ~0.1 mm at a depth of up to 11 mm. Its imaging ability is also tested in a behaving rat, and the results indicate that wPAI is able to image blood vessels at a depth of up to 5 mm with intact scalp and skull. With its noninvasive, deep penetration, and functional imaging ability in behaving animals, wPAI can be used for behavior, cognition, and preclinical brain disease studies.
In this paper, we report the use of lead sulfide quantum dot (PbS QD) bioconjugates as near infrared (NIR) contrast agents for targeted molecular imaging with expanded emission wavelengths beyond 1000 nm. The red-shifted emission band, coupled with the small particle size, which will facilitate clearance, both afford PbS QDs unique properties for noninvasive, high resolution in vivo NIR imaging applications. We have performed imaging experiments at the molecular level using surface-modified PbS NIR QDs, together with our lab-built NIR imaging system. This novel instrumentation and fluorescent contrast agent have enabled us to study the relatively unexplored NIR biomedical imaging spectral region of 900-1200 nm. Preliminary experimental results indicate that PbS-QD/antibody bioconjugates are promising candidates for targeted NIR molecular imaging and future in vivo NIR tissue imaging applications. 相似文献
In photoacoustic tomography (PAT), acoustic inversion aims to recover the spatial distribution of light energy deposition within the imaging object from the signals captured by detectors. To achieve quantitative imaging, optical inversion is further employed to derive absorption coefficient (AC) images. However, limitations such as restricted detection angles and inherent noise lead to substantial artifacts and degradation in the quality of PAT images, consequently affecting the accuracy of optical inversion results. In this study, we propose a directional total variation constrained optical inversion model to reconstruct the AC image. By incorporating anatomy prior information into the optical inversion process, our method can effectively suppress artifacts in AC images while maintaining structural integrity. Simulation, phantom, and in vivo experimental results demonstrate that our method significantly improves the reconstructed AC image quality. Our method provides a reliable foundation for achieving high-quality quantitative PAT imaging. 相似文献
The concentrations of contrast agents for optoacoustic imaging of small animals must usually be optimized through extensive pilot experiments on a case‐by‐case basis. The present work describes a streamlined approach for determining the minimum detectable concentration (MDC) of a contrast agent given experimental conditions and imaging system parameters. The developed Synthetic Data Framework (SDF) allows estimation of MDCs of various contrast agents under different tissue conditions without extensive animal experiments. The SDF combines simulated optoacoustic signals from exogenously administered contrast agents with in vivo experimental signals from background tissue to generate realistic synthetic multispectral optoacoustic images. In this paper, the SDF is validated with in vivo measurements and demonstrates close agreement between SDF synthetic data and experimental data in terms of both image intensity and MDCs. Use of the SDF to estimate MDCs for fluorescent dyes and nanoparticles at different tissue depths and for imaging lesions of different sizes is illustrated. 相似文献
This study aims to develop a novel cross‐sectional imaging of fluorescence in over‐1000 nm near‐infrared (OTN‐NIR), which allows in vivo deep imaging, using computed tomography (CT) system. Cylindrical specimens of composite of OTN‐NIR fluorophore, NaGdF4 co‐doped with Yb3+ and Ho3+ (ex: 980 nm, em: 1150 nm), were embedded in cubic agar (10.5–12 mm) or in the peritoneal cavity of mice and placed on a rotatable stage. When the fluorescence from inside of the samples was serially captured from multiple angles, the images were disrupted by the reflection and refraction of emitted light on the sample‐air interface. Immersing the sample into water filled in a rectangular bath suppressed the disruption at the interface and successfully reconstructed the position and concentration of OTN‐NIR fluorophores on the cross‐sectional images using a CT technique. This is promising as a novel three‐dimensional imaging technique for OTN‐NIR fluorescent image projections of small animals captured from multiple angles. 相似文献
“Giant” core/shell quantum dots (g‐QDs) are a promising class of materials for future optoelectronic technologies due to their superior chemical‐ and photostability compared to bare QDs and core/thin shell QDs. However, inadequate light absorption in the visible and near‐infrared (NIR) region and frequent use of toxic heavy metals (e.g., Cd and Pb) are still major challenges for most g‐QDs (e.g., CdSe/CdS) synthesized to date. The synthesis of NIR, heavy metal‐free, Zn‐treated spherical CuInSe2/CuInS2 g‐QDs is reported using the sequential cation exchange method. These g‐QDs exhibit tunable NIR optical absorption and photoluminescence (PL) properties. Transient fluorescence spectroscopy shows prolonged lifetime with increasing shell thickness, indicating the formation of quasi type‐II band alignment, which is further confirmed by simulations. As a proof‐of‐concept, as‐synthesized g‐QDs are used to sensitize TiO2 as a photoanode in a photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell, demonstrating an efficient and stable PEC system. These results pave the way toward synthesizing NIR heavy metal‐free g‐QDs, which are very promising components of future optoelectronic technologies. 相似文献
Chicken embryos have been proven to be an attractive vertebrate model for biomedical research. They have helped in making significant contributions for advancements in various fields like developmental biology, cancer research and cardiovascular studies. However, a non‐invasive, label‐free method of imaging live chicken embryo at high resolution still needs to be developed and optimized. In this work, we have shown the potential of photoacoustic tomography (PAT) for imaging live chicken embryos cultured in bioengineered eggshells. Laser pulses at wavelengths of 532 and 740 nm were used for attaining cross‐sectional images of chicken embryos at different developmental stages. Cross‐sections along different depths were imaged to gain knowledge of the relative depth of different vessels and organs. Due to high optical absorption of vasculature and embryonic eye, images with good optical contrast could be acquired using this method. We have thus reported a label‐free method of performing cross‐sectional imaging of chicken embryos at high resolution demonstrating the capacity of PAT as a promising tool for avian embryo imaging. 相似文献
We present one‐ and two‐photon‐absorption fluorescence spectroscopic analysis of biliverdin (BV) chromophore–based single‐domain near‐infrared fluorescent proteins (iRFPs). The results of these studies are used to estimate the internal electric fields acting on BV inside iRFPs and quantify the electric dipole properties of this chromophore, defining the red shift of excitation and emission spectra of BV‐based iRFPs. The iRFP studied in this work is shown to fit well the global diagram of the red‐shift tunability of currently available BV‐based iRFPs as dictated by the quadratic Stark effect, suggesting the existence of the lower bound for the strongest red shifts attainable within this family of fluorescent proteins. The absolute value of the two‐photon absorption (TPA) cross section of a fluorescent calcium sensor based on the studied iRFP is found to be significantly larger than the TPA cross sections of other widely used genetically encodable fluorescent calcium sensors. 相似文献
Multispectral imaging combines the spectral resolution of spectroscopy with the spatial resolution of imaging and is therefore very useful for biomedical applications. Currently, histological diagnostics use mainly stainings with standard dyes (eg, hematoxylin + eosin) to identify tumors. This method is not applicable in vivo and provides low amounts of chemical information. Biomolecules absorb near infrared light (NIR, 800‐1700 nm) at different wavelengths, which could be used to fingerprint tissue. Here, we built a NIR multispectral absorption imaging setup to study skin tissue samples. NIR light (900‐1500 nm) was used for homogenous wide‐field transmission illumination and detected by a cooled InGaAs camera. In this setup, images I(x, y, λ) from dermatological samples (melanoma, nodular basal‐cell carcinoma, squamous‐cell carcinoma) were acquired to distinguish healthy from diseased tissue regions. In summary, we show the potential of multispectral NIR imaging for cancer diagnostics. 相似文献