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Combined Near-infrared Fluorescent Imaging and Micro-computed Tomography for Directly Visualizing Cerebral Thromboemboli
Published on: September 25, 2016
NIR-II scattering gold superclusters for intravascular optical coherence tomography molecular imaging
Nicholas D Calvert1, Joshua Baxter2, Aidan A Torrens1
1Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract:
Currently, intravascular optical coherence tomography (IV-OCT) is limited to anatomical imaging, providing structural information about atherosclerotic plaque morphology, thrombus and dissection. Earlier detection and risk stratification would be possible through molecular characterization of endothelium but necessitates a purpose-engineered IV-OCT contrast agent. Here we developed gold superclusters (AuSCs) tailored to clinical instrumentation and integrated into clinically relevant workflows. AuSCs are aqueously dispersible clusters of closely packed small gold nanoparticles, affording plasmon hybridization to maximize light scattering at the IV-OCT laser line (~1,350 nm). A polymer coating fosters AuSC uniformity and provides a functionalizable handle, which we targeted to intravascular P-selectin, an early vascular endothelial marker of inflammation. In a rat model of intravascular inflammation, P-selectin-targeted AuSC facilitated IV-OCT molecular imaging, where the strength of the signal correlates with the severity of vascular inflammation.
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