Temporal Multiplexed in Vivo Upconversion Imaging

Abstract

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), typically converting near-infrared (NIR) light into visible luminescence, are promising for bioimaging applications. However, optical multiplexed in vivo upconversion experiments have long been hampered by the exceptional rarity of available luminescence bands in UCNPs that can penetrate deep in tissues. Herein, we describe an approach to accomplish multiplexed upconversion in vivo imaging through time-domain discrimination of tissue-penetrating NIR luminescence at 808 nm (from thulium ions) with a multitude of distinct lifetimes. A tetradomain nanostructure design enables one to regulate energy migration and upconverting processes within confined nanoscopic domains in defined ways, thus yielding high quantum yield upconversion luminescence (maximum ≈ 6.1%, 0.11 W/cm2) with precisely controlled lifetimes that span 2 orders of magnitude (from 78 to 2157 μs). Importantly, intravenous and subcutaneous administration of aqueous form UCNPs into a Kunming mouse demonstrates high-contrast lifetime-colored imaging of them in liver and two abdomen subcutis. Moreover, optical patterns of these UCNPs allow multicolour presentation of a series of deciphered images that are hued with precisely defined lifetimes. The described temporal multiplexed upconversion approach, demonstrated in in vivo imaging and multilevel anticounterfeiting, has implications for high-throughput biosensing, volumetric displays, and diagnosis and therapy.

Rational Design of Ratiometric Luminescence Thermometry Based on Thermally Coupled Levels for Bioapplications

“…Especially, near‐infrared (NIR) light‐driven phosphors at nanoscale, such as upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) that capable of converting NIR stimulation into visible emission, present the advantages of deep‐tissue penetration, minimized background autoluminescence and photodamage, which have great potential applications in diagnostics, optical bio‐imaging, therapeutics and drug delivery, especially in subcutaneous and intracellular thermometry. [ 19–22 ] Generally, thermal reading at nanoscale could be remotely extracted through temperature‐dependent spectral parameters, such as emission intensity, lifetime, peak position, and band width. Among these approaches, thermal sensing based on absolute intensity from a single transition is greatly affected by the spectrum loss, fluctuations of excitation, and phosphor concentration.…”

Люминесцентные Наноматериалы, Допированные Редкоземельными Ионами, И Перспективы Их Биомедицинского Применения (Обзор)

“…При возбуждении инфракрасным светом с длиной волны 980 nm эти частицы демонстрировали интенсивную люминесценцию в видимой области (синей, зеленой и красной), которую можно было регистрировать с помощью эпифлуоресцентного микроскопа. Исследование показало, что использование ап-конверсионных наночастиц приводит к хорошему отношению сигнал/шум из-за отсутствия автофлуоресценции [177,178]. Кроме того, эти наночастицы не были подвержены фотообесцвечиванию, что способствовало проведению длительной микроскопии.…”

Unlocking the decoding of unknown magnetic nanobarcode signatures

“…As a result, numerous types of nanobarcodes, such as photonic nanoparticles [2][3][4], magnetic nanoparticles [5][6][7], and magneto-optic nanoparticles [8], have emerged to meet the desired requirements for individual applications. The synthesis approach of nanobarcodes can allow one to engineer multiple properties, such as absorption/emission spectra of photonic nanoparticles [9][10][11], coercivity and saturation magnetization of magnetic nanoparticles [7,[12][13][14][15], to leverage their encoding through various synthesis strategies, both chemical and physical strategies [16][17][18][19], that feasibly tune properties. However, producing nanobarcodes with diverse encodings does not necessarily guarantee their successful decoding.…”