In vivo optical imaging in arthritis--an enlightening future?

Abstract

In vivo molecular optical imaging has significant potential to delineate and measure, at the macroscopic level, in vivo biological processes that are occurring at the cellular and molecular level. Optical imaging has already been developed for in vitro and ex vivo applications in molecular and cellular biology (e.g. fluorescence confocal microscopy), but is still at an early stage of development as a whole-animal in vivo imaging technique. Both sensitivity and spatial resolution remain incompletely defined. Rapid advances in hardware technology and highly innovative reporter probes and dyes will be expected to deliver significant insight into perturbations of molecular pathways that occur in disease, ultimately with the potential of translating into future molecular imaging techniques for patients with arthritis. This review will focus on currently available technologies for live in vivo animal optical imaging, including fluorescence reflectance imaging, potential novel tomographic techniques, bioluminescence reporter technology and potential novel labelling techniques, highlighting in particular the potential application of in vivo fluorescence imaging in arthritis.

Inflammation assessment in patients with arthritis using a novel in vivo fluorescence optical imaging technology

“…Fluorescence optical imaging (FOI) is an established technology that has been evaluated for imaging of inflammation in a variety of animal models 13. In experimental models of arthritis, indocyanine green (ICG)-enhanced FOI findings corresponded to histologically proven synovitis 14 15.…”

Combined bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging visualizing orthotopic lung adenocarcinoma xenograft <italic>in vivo</italic>

“…Both bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging have their own characteristics, as demonstrated in the previous studies [7,8]. Bioluminescence imaging with luciferase gene exhibits minimal background signals from the animal tissues, high specificity and precise quantification, and can be used to detect the deep tumor in vivo.…”

Guiding Principles in The Design of Ligand-Targeted Nanomedicines

“…Alternatively, NPs that produce their imaging signals only after arrival at their target tissues will also avoid the unwanted background arising from slow NP pharmacokinetics [198][199][200][201][202][203][204][205][206][207][208]. One example of a site-activated NP imaging agent that has attracted recent attention involves developed by Gao et al [209].…”