In‐vivo Tumor detection using diffusion reflection measurements of targeted gold nanorods – a quantitative study

Abstract

The ability to quantitatively and non-invasively detect nanoparticles has important implications on their development as an in-vivo cancer diagnostic tool. The Diffusion Reflection (DR) method is a simple, non-invasive imaging technique which has been proven useful for the investigation of tissue's optical parameters. In this study, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, tissue-like phantom experiments and in-vivo measurements of the reflected light intensity from tumor bearing mice are presented. Following intravenous injection of antibody conjugated poly (ethylene glycol)-coated (PEGylated) gold nanorods (GNR) to tumor-bearing mice, accumulation of GNR in the tumor was clearly detected by the DR profile of the tumor. The ability of DR measurements to quantitate in-vivo the concentration of the GNR in the tumor was demonstrated and validated with Flame Atomic Absorption spectroscopy results. With GNR as absorbing contrast agents, DR has important potential applications in the image guided therapy of superficial tumors such as head and neck cancer, breast cancer and melanoma.

Towards real-time detection of tumor margins using photothermal imaging of immune-targeted gold nanoparticles

“…By reducing the laser irradiation, GNP-targeted cancer cells can be detected without affecting cell viability. It has been shown that a low concentration of GNPs (0.02 mg/mL), lower than that found in several in vivo studies, 18,32,33 can be easily detected. An important advantage of this imaging technique is the use of the absorption properties of GNPs rather than their scattering properties, leading to high contrast between targeted cancer cells and normal background tissue.…”

“…In addition, it can be seen that there was a positive correlation between the gold nanorod concentrations and temperature elevation. For the highest gold nanorod concentration (0.1 mg/mL), a temperature difference of about 14°C was observed after 10 seconds of irradiation, while for the lowest detectable concentration (0.02 mg/mL), a concentration that is clinically relevant, 12,18,30 the temperature was elevated by about 1°C after the same period of time.…”

“…15 Therefore, they have been widely utilized as near infrared, 14 photoacoustic, 17 Raman scattering, 8 and diffusion reflection 18,19 imaging contrast agents.…”

Identification of Postoperative Margins of Glioblastoma Multiforme Using Gold Nanoparticles Conjugated to Epidermal Growth Factor Antibodies

“…One slide was stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and evaluated by a pathologist for tumor borders. The other was de-paraffinized, marked with the tumor borders identified on the H&E-stained slide, and stained with anti-EGFR antibody conjugated to GNPs, as previously described [13,14].…”

“…The GNPs were bioconjugated to EGFR-expressing head and neck cancer cells. The accumulation of the GNPs in the cancer cells caused an increase in their absorption properties, resulting in a specific reflection signal of the tumor site [14,15].…”