X-ray-excited nanoparticle imaging - a new hybrid modality for deep, in-vivo imaging in preclinical research

现代医学在很大程度上依赖于科学家研究活组织和有机体对病原体或其他造成损害的因素做出反应的方式，以及评估潜在治疗方法的有效性。成像是生物医学研究的主要工具，揭示健康和疾病状态下组织的结构和功能。虽然显微镜可以在亚细胞水平上提供令人印象深刻的、详细的图像，但在大多数情况下，它仅限于研究相对分离的细胞或提取的组织样本，这些样本不能完全代表活着的全身环境中细胞的状态。相反，这是生物医学成像领域，获取的图像可以揭示完整的活体对象的生物医学过程状态。生物医学成像技术利用了从X射线和伽马射线相机到红外探测器和射频信号的广泛能力。每一种此类模式都有其优点和缺点。例如，可见光和近红外光可以提供非常详细的图像，但不能深入组织，而X射线可以几乎无衰减地穿透。Xstrahl有限公司是一家英国医疗技术公司，设计临床和研究系统以帮助根除癌症。它的系统在全球700多个治疗和研究设施中运行，利用X射线技术研究和治疗癌症。它最有价值的研究工具之一是SARRP-其小动物辐射研究平台-用于开发诊断和治疗癌症的方法。SARRP在模拟人类疾病的研究动物的临床前研究中提供有针对性的辐射，例如携带肿瘤的小鼠。在这个项目中，我们的目标是实施一种新的混合生物医学成像方法，该方法利用X射线和工程纳米材料的最佳特性，X射线在通过活的材料时几乎不会发生散射，而工程纳米材料将X射线转换为可在体外操纵和检测的近红外光。到目前为止，我们已经确定了一系列纳米颗粒对X射线照射的反应良好，并且它们可以在小鼠的内脏器官中被激发并被检测到，这些内脏通常用于模拟人类疾病，因此我们的下一步是将这种成像能力与Xstrahl SARRP仪器相结合。SARRP非常适合于这种成像模式，因为它已经为X射线计划、交付和监测以及成像过程中的动物福利提供了全面的支持，同时具有这项转译研究的发展性质所需的灵活性。我们的最终目标是将这项技术从一项定制的新兴技术提升为一项通过Xstrahl SARRP随时可供数千名生物医学研究人员使用的技术。

Modern medicine relies heavily on the ability of scientists to study the ways in which living tissue and organisms respond to pathogens or other agents that cause damage, and to assess the effectiveness of potential treatments. Imaging is a major tool in biomedical research, revealing the structure and function of tissue in healthy and diseased states.While microscopy can provide impressive, detailed images at subcellular levels, in most cases it is restricted to studying relatively isolated cells or extracted tissue samples which do not fully represent the state of cells in living, whole-body environments. That instead is the domain of biomedical imaging, where images are acquired that can reveal the state of biomedical processes in a complete living subject. Biomedical imaging techniques exploit a wide range of capabilities, from X-ray and gamma-ray cameras, to infrared detectors and radio-frequency signals. Each such modality has its advantages and shortcomings. For example, visible and near-infrared light can provide very detailed images, but do not penetrate deeply into tissues, whereas X-rays can pass through almost unattenuated.Xstrahl Ltd is a British medical technology company that designs clinical and research systems to help eradicate cancer. Its systems are in operation at more than 700 treatment and research facilities worldwide, utilising X-ray techniques to study and treat cancer. One of its most valued research instruments is the SARRP - its Small Animal Radiation Research Platform - which is used in the development of methods for diagnosing and treating cancer. The SARRP delivers targeted radiation in pre-clinical studies of research animals which model human disease, such as tumour-bearing mice.In this project, we aim to implement a new, hybrid biomedical imaging approach that utilises the best characteristics of X-rays, which undergo little scattering in their passage through living material, and engineered nanomaterials that convert X-rays into near-infrared light that can be manipulated and detected outside the body. We have so far determined that a range of nanoparticles respond favourably to X-ray irradiation, and that they can be excited and detected in the internal organs of mice, which are commonly used to model human disease, so our next step is to integrate this imaging capability with the Xstrahl SARRP instrument. The SARRP is ideally suited to this imaging modality because it already provides complete support for X-ray planning, delivery and monitoring, and for animal welfare during imaging procedures, while having the flexibility needed by the developmental nature of this translational research. Our ultimate goal is to elevate this technique from being a bespoke, emerging technology, to one that is readily available to thousands of biomedical researchers through the Xstrahl SARRP.