Copper Sulfide Nanoparticles As a New Class of Photoacoustic Contrast Agent for Deep Tissue Imaging at 1064 nm

Abstract

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) is an emerging molecular imaging modality. Here, we demonstrate use of semiconductor copper sulfide nanoparticles (CuS NP) for PAT with an Nd:YAG laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm. CuS NP allowed visualization of mouse brain after intracranial injection, rat lymph nodes 12 mm below the skin after interstitial injection, and CuS NP-containing agarose gel embedded in chicken breast muscle at the depth of ~ 5 cm. This imaging approach has great potential for molecular imaging of breast cancer.

NH₄HCO₃ gas-generating liposomal nanoparticle for photoacoustic imaging in breast cancer

“…Thus, the research direction is to develop a contrast agent to enhance the PAI effect. [4][5][6] At present, major materials used for PAI contrast agents include gold nanomaterials, dyes, and carbon nanomaterials. [7][8][9][10][11][12] However, the use of such materials is controversial in PAI.…”

Copper sulfide nanoparticles: from synthesis to biomedical applications

“…A 1064 nm--wavelength laser was chosen for irradiation, as the wavelength elicits a strong absorbance of CuS NPs while a low absorption of normal tissues, thus increasing the signal-to-noise ratio. The result shows that this CuS-based PAT imaging allows for the detection of deep tissue at a depth of ~5 cm with an in-plane imaging resolution of ~800 μm and a sensitivity of ~0.7 nmol per imaging pixel [12]. In another example, CuS-based PAT imaging was used to detect the activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in vivo [48].…”

“…Generally speaking, molecular imaging includes the use of optical techniques such as bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging [43], molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [44], magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), positron emission tomography (PET) [45], single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) [46], and increasingly popular photoacoustic tomography (PAT) [40]. [12]. Since then, this imaging modality has been widely researched and advanced toward clinical applications.…”

“…Besides possessing the common features of semiconductor nanomaterials, including the variable energy structure and enhanced surface properties, CuS NPs are capable of forming various stoichiometries with unique optical and electrical properties, and thus they are explored as a potential platform for biosensing [3,4], molecular imaging [5], photothermal therapy [6], drug delivery [7], and theranostic agents [8].…”

The Advances of Carbon Nanotubes in Cancer Diagnostics and Therapeutics

“…The management of external photoacoustic contrast-mediums has become a necessary task. All kinds of nanomaterials have been applied as contrast-mediums in PAI, and these materials have strong capability to absorb light at near-infrared region (NIR) [66,[70][71][72]. Many contrast-mediums have been studied for PAI; however they cannot reach to the target site of disease in living subjects.…”