Targeted Molecular Imaging of Pancreatic Cancer with a Miniature Endoscope

• Authors: Xianjin Dai, University of Florida; Wei Ping Qian, Emory University; Hao Yang, University of South Florida; Lily Yang, Emory University; Huabei Jiang, University of South Florida
• Journal Title: Applied Sciences
• Volume: Volume 7, Number 12
• Publisher: MDPI | 2017-12-01, Pages 1241-1241
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.3390/app7121241
• Subjects: Biology, Molecular; Health Sciences, Oncology; Health Sciences, Radiology
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Physical Sciences; Technology; Chemistry, Multidisciplinary; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary; Physics, Applied; Chemistry; Materials Science; Physics; photoacoustic imaging; fluorescence imaging; multifunctional nanoparticles; pancreatic cancer; molecular imaging; multimodal endoscopy; THERANOSTIC NANOPARTICLES; CONTRAST AGENTS; TOMOGRAPHY; THERAPY; MODEL; RESECTABILITY; PET

Abstract

It is highly desirable to develop novel approaches to improve patient survival rate of pancreatic cancer through early detection. Here, we present such an approach based on photoacoustic and fluorescence molecular imaging of pancreatic tumor using a miniature multimodal endoscope in combination with targeted multifunctional iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). A novel fan-shaped scanning mechanism was developed to minimize the invasiveness for endoscopic imaging of pancreatic tumors. The results show that the enhancements in photoacoustic and fluorescence signals using amino-terminal fragment (ATF) targeted IONPs were ~four to six times higher compared to that using non-targeted IONPs. Our study indicates the potential of the combination of the multimodal photoacoustic-fluorescence endoscopy and targeted multifunctional nanoparticles as an efficient tool to provide improved specificity and sensitivity for pancreatic cancer detection.