There’s a variety of contrast agents in existence that help doctors using different medical imaging modalities to spot cancers, identify vessel occlusions, and many other things. Typically these compounds only work with one or two imaging techniques, so different exams require different injections and they have to be performed separately. Now a team headed by scientists from State University of New York at Buffalo have developed a single nanoparticle that is visible under CT, PET, photoacoustic imaging, fluorescence imaging, upconversion imaging, and Cherenkov luminescence imaging.
While devices that do all six types of imaging do not exist, the researchers looked at mice injected with the ‘hexamodal” nanoparticle using PET/CT, as well as photoacoustic imaging. They discovered that deep tissue imaging was best under PET/CT, while high detail vessel structures were seen using photoacoustic imaging. Perhaps the new nanoparticle will spur further development of attempting to combine different imaging modalities into one machine which will provide high resolution views of the body’s interior using the most appropriate technique each time.
Some details about how the nanoparticle is constructed according to SUNY Buffalo:
The researchers designed the nanoparticles from two components: An “upconversion” core that glows blue when struck by near-infrared light, and an outer fabric of porphyrin-phospholipids (PoP) that wraps around the core.
Each part has unique characteristics that make it ideal for certain types of imaging.
The core, initially designed for upconversion imaging, is made from sodium, ytterbium, fluorine, yttrium and thulium. The ytterbium is dense in electrons — a property that facilitates detection by CT scans.
The PoP wrapper has biophotonic qualities that make it a great match for fluorescence and photoacoustic imagining. The PoP layer also is adept at attracting copper, which is used in PET and Cerenkov luminescence imaging.
Study in Advanced Materials: Hexamodal Imaging with Porphyrin-Phospholipid-Coated Upconversion Nanoparticles…
Press release: One nanoparticle, six types of medical imaging…