Work

Structural and functional photoacoustic molecular tomography aided by emerging contrast agents

Year: 2014

Type: review

Abstract: Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) can offer structural, functional and molecular contrasts at scalable observation level. By ultrasonically overcoming the strong optical scattering, this imaging technology can reach centimeters penetration depth while retaining high spatial resolution in biological tissue. Recent extensive research has been focused on developing new contrast agents to improve the imaging sensitivity, specificity and efficiency. These emerging materials have substantially accelerated PAT applications in signal sensing, functional imaging, biomarker labeling and therapy monitoring etc. Here, the potentials of different optical probes as PAT contrast agents were elucidated. We first describe the instrumental embodiments and the measured functional parameters, then focus on emerging contrast agent-based PAT applications, and finally discuss the challenges and prospects.

Source: Chemical Society Reviews

DOI: 10.1039/c4cs00086b

Authors: Liming Nie, Xiaoyuan Chen

Institutions: National Institutes of Health, Xiamen University, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics

Language: English

Topic: Photoacoustic and Ultrasonic Imaging

Subfield: Biomedical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

Awards: Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, G92131997