Plasmonic Photothermal Cancer Therapy: Nanoparticle-embedded Tumor-tissue-mimicking Phantoms for Visualizing...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optical Physics
• Cancer Therapy

Background:

• Plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT) utilizes nanoparticles and near-infrared (NIR) irradiation for targeted cancer cell destruction.
• Accurate therapeutic parameter estimation, including nanoparticle concentration and irradiation settings, is crucial for effective PPTT.
• Numerical simulations are essential for parameter estimation but require validation using realistic tissue-mimicking phantoms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and present a detailed protocol for fabricating breast tumor-tissue-mimicking phantoms.
• To enable validation of numerical simulations for PPTT through photothermal experiments.
• To optimize and plan PPTT therapeutic parameters prior to in vivo applications.

Main Methods:

• Preparation of hydrogel-based phantoms (1% agarose, intralipid) with specific dimensions mimicking breast tumor and surrounding tissue.
• Incorporation of gold nanorods (25 µg/mL) into the tumor region to replicate optical properties.
• NIR irradiation of phantoms, spatiotemporal temperature monitoring using thermocouples, and comparison with numerical simulation results.

Main Results:

• Successful fabrication of cylindrical breast tumor-tissue phantoms with defined optical properties (µs', µa).
• Demonstrated validation of numerical simulations by comparing experimental and simulated temperature data.
• Quantified gold nanorod concentration within the phantom tumor region.

Conclusions:

• The presented protocols are valuable for creating phantoms for photothermal experiments.
• These phantoms facilitate the validation of numerical simulations for PPTT.
• The methodology aids in optimizing and planning PPTT parameters for improved clinical outcomes.