Polymeric Micelles as Carriers for Nerve-Highlighting Fluorescent Probe Delivery

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Surgical Imaging
• Drug Delivery Systems

Background:

• Nerve damage during surgery causes chronic pain and loss of function.
• Current surgical imaging lacks nerve-specific visualization techniques.
• Existing fluorescent agents provide only untargeted blood pool information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel formulation for nerve-specific fluorophores to enable clinical translation.
• To improve nerve visualization during surgery using fluorescence imaging.
• To overcome challenges associated with the lipophilic nature of nerve-specific fluorophores.

Main Methods:

• Developed a polymeric micellar (PM) formulation strategy for the nerve-specific fluorophore BMB.
• Tested the PM formulation's ability to solubilize BMB.
• Compared nerve-specific accumulation and fluorescence intensity of the PM formulation versus a previous formulation in mice.

Main Results:

• The PM formulation successfully solubilized the lipophilic fluorophore BMB.
• PM formulation demonstrated improved nerve-specific accumulation and fluorescence intensity compared to the previous method.
• The PM formulation strategy is nontoxic and biodegradable.

Conclusions:

• The developed PM formulation strategy is effective for solubilizing and enhancing nerve-specific fluorophores.
• This formulation facilitates the clinical translation of nerve-specific probes for improved surgical guidance.
• The PM formulation offers potential for reduced dosage and improved safety profiles in fluorescence-guided surgery.