Mid-infrared molecular imaging

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Given their status as the number one killer in the western world, the development of new tools to evaluate novel therapies and address cardiovascular (CV) diseases and risk is essential. Among those tools, imaging science and technology are becoming key contributors as they enable early measures of drug efficacy and longitudinal studies. Due to its non-invasive nature and ability to report on specific processes, molecular imaging of cardiovascular diseases thus provides an attractive avenue towards better characterization of CV events. The goal of this project is to develop a novel, high-resolution, molecular mid-infrared (MIR) imaging platform for atherosclerotic plaque detection and characterization in vivo. Current available imaging technologies to investigate peripheral vascular function and disease remain sub-optimal, mostly due to the necessity of imaging small vascular structures under a large bulk of tissue. Microscopic optical imaging techniques (confocal, two-photon, optical coherence tomography) are limited by penetration depth, while more conventional whole body techniques, such as MRI and micro-CT lead to long scanning times, have limited resolution (100um), and require long post-processing. Furthermore, they remain limited in their ability to assess hemodynamics (beyond structure). To characterize both functional and molecular imaging, optical techniques remain attractive but are plagued by high diffusion. Recent high-profile work has shown that beyond the usual ‘therapeutic window’ (650-900nm) used for bio imaging with optical signals, a second window offered new opportunities. The mid-infrared region (1200-1500nm) is associated with significantly lower photon absorption and diffusion, leading to increased penetration depth and image resolution, and reduced autofluorescence, increasing its specificity for molecular imaging. However, exploiting MIR imaging requires an interdisciplinary effort combining probe development with new instrumentation tailored to MIR imaging. This project combines the expertise of the three co-applicants in nanotechnology, bio-conjugation and imaging to investigate and develop new molecular nanoprobes and a platform for molecular MIR imaging in the context of vascular disease.