Computational models of gold nanoparticles for medical diagnostics and therapy

该计划旨在开发一种联合检测、治疗和治疗监测肿瘤的方法，这种方法将彻底改变几种癌症的检测和治疗。人们对利用纳米金颗粒(GNPs)的靶向传递在肿瘤和正常组织之间提供增强的“对比度”一直很感兴趣，用于热疗(指使用热凝结和摧毁肿瘤)和光声成像(结合使用光子和声音进行成像)。一些研究发现，当GNPs存在时，间质激光热疗对肿瘤的破坏作用大大增强(称为等离子体光热疗法，或PPTT)。最近，一些研究小组发现，在光声成像中，含有GNPs的区域更亮，其中一个小组发现，当颗粒被二氧化硅包裹时，信号强度增加了三倍。也有证据表明，当功能化的金纳米棒被加热时，由于金纳米链(GNCs)的形成，等离子激元共振峰显著移动。因此，该研究计划的长期目标是利用金纳米结构的动态等离子体行为，将光声肿瘤检测、具有内在温度反馈控制的PPTT治疗以及PPTT期间的温度/损伤监测相结合。该研究计划的更具体、更短期的目标是：1)模拟从GNPs产生的光声信号；2)研究自组装GNCs温度自调节在PPTT中的应用；以及3)研究自组装在PPTT中用于温度监测的使用。这些目标将通过计算模型来实现，计算模型将通过将我们开发的GNPs的等离子体模型与我们开发的关于粘弹性物体的声散射的另一模型相耦合来创建。

The program aims to develop a method for the combined detection, treatment and treatment monitoring of tumours in a way that would revolutionize the detection and treatment of several types of cancer. There has been a lot of interest in utilizing the targeted delivery of gold nano-particles (GNPs) to provide increased "contrast" between tumour and normal tissue for both thermal therapy (which refers to the use of heat to coagulate and destroy tumours) and photoacoustic imaging (the combined use of photons and sound for imaging). Several studies have found that tumour destruction by interstitial laser thermal therapy is greatly enhanced when GNPs are present (known as plasmonic photo-thermal therapy, or PPTT). Recently a few groups have found that regions containing GNPs are brighter in photoacoustic imaging, and one group found that the signal intensity increased three-fold when the particles were coated with silica. There is also evidence that the plasmon resonance peak shifts significantly when functionalized gold nano-rods are heated, caused by the formation of gold nano-chains (GNCs). Therefore the long-term objective of the research program is to utilize the dynamic plasmon behaviour of gold nano-structures for combined photoacoustic tumour detection, PPTT treatment with intrinsic temperature feedback control, and temperature/damage monitoring during PPTT. The more specific, short-term, objectives of the research program are to 1) model photoacoustic signal generation from GNPs; 2) investigate the use of self-assembling GNCs temperature self-regulation in PPTT; and 3) investigate the use of self-assembling for temperature monitoring during PPTT. These objectives will be met by computational models that will be created by coupling a plasmonics model of GNPs that we have developed to another model we have developed on acoustic scattering by viscoelastic objects.