Sharp-peaked lanthanide nanocrystals for near-infrared photoacoustic multiplexed differential imaging
Photoacoustic tomography offers a powerful tool to visualize biological relevant molecules and understand processes within living systems at high resolution in deep tissue, facilitated by the conversion of incident photons into low-scattering acoustic waves through non-radiative relaxation. Although current endogenous and exogenous photoacoustic contrast agents effectively enable molecular imaging within deep tissues, their broad absorption spectra in the visible to near-infrared (NIR) range limit photoacoustic multiplexed imaging. Here, we exploit the distinct ultrasharp NIR absorption peaks of lanthanides to engineer a series of NIR photoacoustic nanocrystals. This engineering involves precise host and dopant material composition, yielding nanocrystals with sharply peaked photoacoustic absorption spectra (~3.2 nm width) and a ~10-fold enhancement in NIR optical absorption for efficient deep tissue imaging. By combining photoacoustic tomography with these engineered nanocrystals, we demonstrate photoacoustic multiplexed differential imaging with substantially decreased background signals and enhanced precision and contrast.
Authors
- Tze Chien Sum (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4049-2719)
- Lihong V. Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9783-4383)
- Samuel Davis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0871-8880)
- Kui Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5875-4815)
- Guangxue Feng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4344-3517)
- Ping’an Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4198-5240)
- Minjun Feng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3504-7699)
- Jingyue Fan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4987-7025)
- Kang Yong Loh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0920-7003)
- Liangliang Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4958-3801)
- Weibo Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3971-621X)
- Yi Yiing Goh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2061-0311)
- Yide Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9463-3970)
- Weng Heng Liew (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0203-7128)
- Xiaogang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2517-5790)
- Bin Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0956-2777)
- Kai Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1664-5439)
- Lei Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6164-2646)
- Jun Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9572-2134)
- Ming Yang
- Jie Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1054-4875)
- Zhao Mu
- Hang Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9326-0773)
Institutions
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (SG)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Nanjing Tech University (CN)
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Nanyang Technological University (SG)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Southern University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CN)
- Institute of Engineering Thermophysics (CN)
- Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (SG)
- Rice University (US)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Materials
- Published
- 2024-08-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-024-00605-1
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Photoacoustic and Ultrasonic Imaging
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.55
Funders
- Rice University
- National Research Foundation
- National Research Foundation Singapore
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Institutes of Health