Temperature-modulated fluorescence tomography based on both concentration and lifetime contrast

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Imaging fluorescence in scattering media at high resolution is a significant challenge in biomedical applications.
• Temperature-sensitive nanocapsules loaded with indocyanine green offer a potential solution for improved fluorescence imaging.
• Existing methods often struggle with spatial resolution and depth penetration in turbid environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and demonstrate a frequency-domain temperature-modulated fluorescence tomography system.
• To utilize temperature-sensitive nanocapsules for enhanced fluorescence imaging.
• To achieve high spatial resolution imaging in highly scattering media.

Main Methods:

• Development of a frequency-domain temperature-modulated fluorescence tomography system.
• Incorporation of temperature-sensitive indocyanine green-loaded pluronic nanocapsules.
• Experimental verification using a phantom study with a 3-mm fluorescence object embedded in a turbid medium at 2 cm depth.

Main Results:

• Successful high-resolution imaging of a 3-mm fluorescence object embedded 2 cm deep in a scattering phantom.
• Demonstration of effective fluorescence recovery using both intensity and lifetime contrast.
• Validation of the temperature-modulated fluorescence tomography system's capability.

Conclusions:

• The developed frequency-domain temperature-modulated fluorescence tomography system, combined with specialized nanocapsules, enables high-resolution fluorescence imaging in scattering media.
• This approach overcomes previous limitations in spatial resolution and depth penetration.
• The system shows promise for various biomedical imaging applications requiring deep tissue visualization.