Upconverting Organic Dye Doped Core-Shell Nano-Composites for Dual-Modality NIR Imaging and Photo-Thermal Therapy

Nanotechnology approaches offer the potential for creating new optical imaging agents with unique properties that enable uses such as combined molecular imaging and photo-thermal therapy. Ideal preparations should fluoresce in the near-infrared (NIR) region to ensure maximal tissue penetration depth along with minimal scattering and light absorption. Due to their unique photophysical properties, upconverting ceramics such as NaYF4:Er3+,Yb3+ nanoparticles have become promising optical materials for biological imaging. In this work, the design and synthesis of NaYF4:Er3+,Yb3+@SiO2 core-shell nano-composites, which contain highly absorbing NIR carbocyanine dyes in their outer silica shell, are described. These materials combine optical emission (from the upconverting core nanoparticle) with strong NIR absorption (from the carbocyanine dyes incorporated into the shell) to enable both optical imaging and photo-thermal treatment, respectively. Ultimately, this hybrid composite nanomaterial approach imparts the ability to both visualize, via upconversion imaging, and treat, via photo-thermal heating, using two distinct optical channels. Proof-of-principle in vitro experiments are presented to demonstrate the combined imaging and photo-thermal properties of this new functional nano-composite

Fluorescence-based detection methodologies for nitric oxide using transition metal scaffolds

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemistry, 2004.MIT Institute Archives copy has p. 191-192 bound between p. 188 and p. 189.Vita.Includes bibliographical references.Chapter 1. Fluorescence-Based Detection Methodologies for Nitric Oxide: A Review. Chapter 2. Cobalt Chemistry with Mixed Aminotroponimine Salicylaldimine Ligands: Synthesis, Characterization, and Nitric Oxide Reactivity. Chapter 3. Carboxylate-Bridged Dimetallic Complexes as Potential Nitric Oxide Sensors. Chapter 4. Dirhodium Tetracarboxylate Scaffolds as Reversible Fluorescence- Based Nitric Oxide Sensors.by Scott A. Hilderbrand.Ph.D

Optical imaging in vivo with a focus on paediatric disease: technical progress, current preclinical and clinical applications and future perspectives

To obtain information on the occurrence and location of molecular events as well as to track target-specific probes such as antibodies or peptides, drugs or even cells non-invasively over time, optical imaging (OI) technologies are increasingly applied. Although OI strongly contributes to the advances made in preclinical research, it is so far, with the exception of optical coherence tomography (OCT), only very sparingly applied in clinical settings. Nevertheless, as OI technologies evolve and improve continuously and represent relatively inexpensive and harmful methods, their implementation as clinical tools for the assessment of children disease is increasing. This review focuses on the current preclinical and clinical applications as well as on the future potential of OI in the clinical routine. Herein, we summarize the development of different fluorescence and bioluminescence imaging techniques for microscopic and macroscopic visualization of microstructures and biological processes. In addition, we discuss advantages and limitations of optical probes with distinct mechanisms of target-detection as well as of different bioluminescent reporter systems. Particular attention has been given to the use of near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probes enabling observation of molecular events in deeper tissue

Upconverting Luminescent Nanomaterials: Application to In Vivo Bioimaging

In this report, the development of multi-channel anti-Stokes luminescent Y2O3 nanoparticles for application to in vivo upconversion imaging is detailed