Web Release Date: November 20,
Photoacoustic Tomography of a Rat Cerebral Cortex in vivo with Au Nanocages as an Optical Contrast Agent
and
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, People's Republic of China
Received September 12, 2007
Revised November 4, 2007
Abstract:
Poly(ethylene glycol)-coated Au nanocages have been evaluated as a potential near-infrared (NIR) contrast agent for photoacoustic tomography (PAT). Previously, Au nanoshells were found to be an effective NIR contrast agent for PAT; however, Au nanocages with their more compact sizes (<50 nm compared to >100 nm for Au nanoshells) and larger optical absorption cross sections should be better suited for in vivo applications. We sequentially injected Au nanocages into the circulatory system of a rat in three administrations and in vivo PAT was conducted immediately prior to the first injection and continued until 5 h after the final injection. A gradual enhancement of the optical absorption in the cerebral cortex, by up to 81%, was observed over the course of the experiment.
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