Noninvasive and early diagnosis of acquired brain injury using fluorescence imaging in the NIR-II window

Acquired brain injury (ABI), which is the umbrella term for all brain injuries, is one of the most dangerous diseases resulting in high morbidity and mortality, making it extremely significant to early diagnosis of ABI. Current methods, which are mainly composed of X-ray computed tomography and magnetic resonance angiography, remain limited in diagnosis of ABI with respect to limited spatial resolution and long scanning times. Here, we reported through-skull fluorescence imaging of mouse cerebral vasculature without craniotomy, utilizing the fluorescence of down-conversion nanoparticles (DCNPs) in the 1.3 - 1.7 μm near-infrared window (NIR-II window). Due to its high spatial resolution of 22.79 μm, the NIR-II fluorescence imaging method could quickly distinguish the brain injury region of mice after performing the stab wound injury (traumatic brain injury) and ischemic stroke (non-traumatic brain injury), enabling it a powerful tool in the noninvasive and early diagnosis of ABI.