Near Infrared Fluorescence Imaging in Nano-Therapeutics and Photo-Thermal Evaluation

Abstract

The unresolved and paramount challenge in bio-imaging and targeted therapy is to clearly define and demarcate the physical margins of tumor tissue. The ability to outline the healthy vital tissues to be carefully navigated with transection while an intraoperative surgery procedure is performed sets up a necessary and under-researched goal. To achieve the aforementioned objectives, there is a need to optimize design considerations in order to not only obtain an effective imaging agent but to also achieve attributes like favorable water solubility, biocompatibility, high molecular brightness, and a tissue specific targeting approach. The emergence of near infra-red fluorescence (NIRF) light for tissue scale imaging owes to the provision of highly specific images of the target organ. The special characteristics of near infra-red window such as minimal auto-fluorescence, low light scattering, and absorption of biomolecules in tissue converge to form an attractive modality for cancer imaging. Imparting molecular fluorescence as an exogenous contrast agent is the most beneficial attribute of NIRF light as a clinical imaging technology. Additionally, many such agents also display therapeutic potentials as photo-thermal agents, thus meeting the dual purpose of imaging and therapy. Here, we primarily discuss molecular imaging and therapeutic potentials of two such classes of materials, i.e., inorganic NIR dyes and metallic gold nanoparticle based materials.

Safety and efficacy of intravesical chemotherapy and hyperthermia in the bladder: results of a porcine study

“…We utilized healthy swine that did not have any bladder pathology, given that no porcine bladder cancer model exists presently. Healthy urothelial mucosa has been shown to be less permeable than tumor tissue, hence we believe that intravesical chemotherapy with HT may actually result in an even greater increase of MMC absorption in patients with bladder cancer than demonstrated in our study [17]. Our findings deferred from van Valenberg et al, where they found that MMC concentration did not differ between the cold MMC group and radiofrequency induced MMC group in normal urothelial tissue [15].…”

Fabrication, Characterization and Cytotoxicity of Spherical-Shaped Conjugated Gold-Cockle Shell Derived Calcium Carbonate Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

“…Furthermore, the absorption spectrum of nanoparticles could shift depending on color, morphology, and size due to the gold plasmon resonance property [ 73 ]. Nanostructures with NIR photo thermal properties have ability to scatter light strongly, which has significant applications in biomedical imaging [ 74 , 75 ].…”

Gold Nanoparticles for Photothermal Cancer Therapy

“…Fortunately, by modifying the shape of GNPs, such as by using GNRs or hollow gold nanoshells, their resonance peak can be shifted toward the NIR spectrum (Loo et al, 2004). In this regard, various gold nanoparticle configurations have been employed to modify their photothermal and subsequently therapeutic efficiencies (Vats et al, 2017).…”