Simultaneous molecular and hypoxia imaging of brain tumors in vivo using spectroscopic photoacoustic tomography

Meng Lin Li, Jung Taek Oh, Xueyi Xie, Geng Ku, Wei Wang, Chun Li, Gina Lungu, George Stoica, Lihong V. Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

322 Scopus citations

Abstract

Noninvasive molecular and functional imaging in vivo is promising for detecting and monitoring various physiological conditions in animals and ultimately humans. To this end, we present a novel noninvasive technology, spectroscopic photoacoustic tomography (SPAT), which offers both strong optical absorption contrast and high ultrasonic spatial resolution. Optical contrast allows spectroscopic separation of signal contributions from multiple optical absorbers (e.g., oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin, and a molecular contrast agent), thus enabling simultaneous molecular and functional imaging. SPAT successfully imaged with high resolution the distribution of a molecular contrast agent targeting integrin overexpressed in human U87 glioblastomas in nude mouse brains. Simultaneously, SPAT also imaged the hemoglobin oxygen saturation and the total hemoglobin concentration of the vasculature, which revealed hypoxia in tumor neovasculature. Therefore, SPAT can potentially lead to better understanding of the interrelationships between hemodynamics and specific biomarkers associated with tumor progression.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number4445026
Pages (from-to)481-489
Number of pages9
JournalProceedings of the IEEE
Volume96
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2008

Keywords

  • Functional imaging
  • Hemoglobin oxygen saturation
  • Molecular imaging
  • Spectroscopic photoacoustic tomography
  • Total hemoglobin concentration

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Computer Science
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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