Ultra-bright ~ 1600 nm Emitting Nanoparticles for NIR-IIb Molecular Imaging with Clinical Potential

Stanford researchers in the Dai Lab have developed the first ultra-bright cubic-phase erbium-based rare-earth nanoparticles (α-ErNPs) with down-shifting luminescence at ~ 1600 nm for in vivo NIR-IIb (1500-1700 nm) imaging with deep penetration and high clarity. The 11-fold increase in brightness enables excitation by low power, low cost LED for exceptionally crisp, dynamic imaging in vivo at a high frame rate. The highly biocompatible, hydrophilic crosslinked polymer coated nanoparticles provided about 90% biliary excretion from mice in 2 weeks, which can enable clinical translation with minimal toxicity concerns. This invention also shows potential for multiplexed, time resolved imaging, when used in combination with other nanoparticle compositions. Applications include cancer immunotherapy prediction as well as cancer diagnosis, monitoring and image-guided cancer surgery.

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Figure description - Ultrafast and rotation imaging of mouse vascular structure. (a) Ultrafast in vivo imaging of mouse hindlimb. The exposure time for each image acquisition was 1.11 ms, while the overhead time of the camera is 10 ms. Therefore, the frame rate we used for ultrafast imaging is 1 / (1.11 ms + 10 ms) = 90 Hz (or 90 frames per second). (b) Schematic of the experimental setup for 360^o rotation imaging of mouse whole-body. (c) In vivo NIR-IIb imaging of the mouse whole-body from different degree (0^o, 60^o, 120^o, 180^o, 240^o, and 300^o).

Stage of Research