S. Singh, G. Giammanco, D.J. Lawrence, J.L. Moran, P.V. Chtinis, R. Veneziano
George Mason University,
United States
Keywords: J-aggregates, photacoustic imaging, biomedical imaging, indocyanine green, contrast agent
Summary:
Photoacoustic Imaging (PAI) is a non-invasive biomedical imaging modality that is useful for guided biopsy, imaging of diseased tissues such as tumors, and tumor vasculature imaging. It combines the advantages of ultrasound imaging with those of optical imaging to provide anatomical and functional images of tissues. PAI relies on exogenous contrast agents (CAs) to increase the contrast of the tissue of interest against the background. Furthermore, Near-infrared (NIR) CAs help in imaging deep tissues with a greater resolution. However, the number of contrast agents with absorption in the NIR range is currently limited. Our study aims to solve this current market need by creating a contrast agent platform whose size can be tailored for different imaging applications. The CA platform can be easily functionalized with targeting moieties for tumor selectivity. The CA platform is composed of an arrangement of Indocyanine Green (ICG) dye (FDA approved), known as J-aggregates (JA). Our work demonstrates an easy, reproducible, and scalable method for the synthesis of a targeted ICG-JA contrast platform. Therefore, this work presents a functional and biocompatible contrast agent with high photostability and NIR absorption with clinical translation potential.