Manganese-Doped Carbon Dots for Magnetic Resonance/Optical Dual-Modal Imaging of Tiny Brain Glioma

Brain gliomas are life-threatening diseases with low survival rates. Early detection and accurate intraoperative location of brain gliomas is vital to improving the prognosis. Herein, we synthesized manganese (Mn)-doped carbon dots (CDs) as magnetic resonance (MR)/optical dual-modal imaging nanoprobes by a one-pot green microwave-assisted route. These ultra-small-sized Mn-doped CDs possess distinct excitation-dependent photoluminescent emissions, high r₁ relaxivity, and low cytotoxicity. The in vivo MR imaging and ex vivo optical imaging of mouse brain with tiny glioma demonstrate that the Mn-doped CDs could lead to an enhanced MR T₁ contrast effect in the tiny brain glioma region, disclosing the great promise of these Mn-doped CDs as MR/optical dual-modal imaging nanoprobes for detection and intraoperative location of tiny brain gliomas.