ESR Microscopy for Biological and Biomedical Applications

Abstract

We report on electron-spin resonance microscopy (ESRM) providing sub-micron resolution (~700nm) with a high spin concentration sample, i.e. lithium phthalocyanine (LiPc) crystal. For biomedical applications of our ESRM, we have imaged samples containing rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) cells as well as cancerous tissue samples with a resolution of several microns using a water soluble spin probe, Trityl_OX063_d24. Phantom samples with the nitroxide spin label, 15N PDT, were also imaged to demonstrate that nitroxides, which are commonly used as spin labels, may also be used for ESRM applications. ESRM tissue imaging would therefore be valuable for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Also, ESRM can be used to study the motility or the metabolism of cells in various environments. With further modification and/or improvement of imaging probe and spectrometer instrumentation sub-micron biological images should be obtainable, thereby providing a useful tool for various biomedical applications.

Electron paramagnetic resonance imaging for real-time monitoring of Li-ion batteries

“…EPRI is often used in the biological system for the detection of tumours by injecting spin labels 26 27 28 29 30 . However, EPRI is comparatively less commonly used than the widely popular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques because of the high specificity of EPRI towards unpaired electrons and technical challenges associated with the EPRI techniques.…”

Enhancement of Paramagnetic Relaxation by Photoexcited Gold Nanorods

“…Advantages to use of photoexited GNRs in medical imaging include increased control of spatial and temporal resolution during irradiation. Additional significant potential applications include ESR imaging and ESR microscopy and photoswitchable contrast imaging 22 23 24 25 . For these applications, GNRs have particular advantages.…”

Introductory Chapter: The Diversity of Biophysical Chemistry Techniques

“…Electron spin resonance as a powerful technique for structural elucidation of protein structure is extensively used [35,36]. For this site-directed spin-labeling electron spin resonance spectroscopy (SDSL-EPR) is used as a highly sensitive technique for determining the structure and dynamics of, for example, membrane proteins within their native membrane environment.…”