Clinically Translatable Solid‐State Dye for NIR‐II Imaging of Medical Devices

• Published in: Advanced science 2023-12, Vol.10 (36), p.e2303491-n/a
• Main Authors: Li, Deling, Shi, Hui, Qi, Qingrong, Chang, Baisong, Jiang, Yuanwen, Qian, Kun, Guan, Xiudong, Kang, Peng, Ma, Ning, Zhang, Yuan, Zhang, Zeyu, Shi, Xiaojing, Qu, Chunrong, Wu, Yilei, Chen, Weiyu, Chen, Hao, Li, Baowang, Chen, Liangpeng, Li, Ziyang, Ma, Shunchang, Xu, Lingyun, Zhang, Yanrong, Tian, Jie, Hu, Zhenhua, Jia, Wang, Cheng, Zhen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aggregates; Biodegradation; Catheters; Coloring Agents; Dyes; Humans; in vivo imaging; medical devices; Medical equipment; NIR‐II fluorescence; Optical Imaging - methods; Optical properties; Solvents; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; Spectrum analysis; Sutures
• ISSN: 2198-3844; 2198-3844
• DOI: 10.1002/advs.202303491

Medical devices are commonly implanted underneath the skin, but how to real‐time noninvasively monitor their migration, integrity, and biodegradation in human body is still a formidable challenge. Here, the study demonstrates that benzyl violet 4B (BV‐4B), a main component in the FDA‐approved surgical suture, is found to produce fluorescence signal in the first near‐infrared window (NIR‐I, 700–900 nm) in polar solutions, whereas BV‐4B self‐assembles into highly crystalline aggregates upon a formation of ultrasmall nanodots and can emit strong fluorescence in the second near‐infrared window (NIR‐II, 1000–1700 nm) with a dramatic bathochromic shift in the absorption spectrum of ≈200 nm. Intriguingly, BV‐4B‐involved suture knots underneath the skin can be facilely monitored during the whole degradation process in vivo, and the rupture of the customized BV‐4B‐coated silicone catheter is noninvasively diagnosed by NIR‐II imaging. Furthermore, BV‐4B suspended in embolization glue achieves hybrid fluorescence‐guided surgery (hybrid FGS) for arteriovenous malformation. As a proof‐of‐concept study, the solid‐state BV‐4B is successfully used for NIR‐II imaging of surgical sutures in operations of patients. Overall, as a clinically translatable solid‐state dye, BV‐4B can be applied for in vivo monitoring the fate of medical devices by NIR‐II imaging. Benzyl Violet 4B (BV‐4B), serving as a component in the FDA‐approved surgical sutures, is first discovered as a novel solid‐state dye in the NIR‐II window (1000–1700 nm). It can be used to non‐invasively monitor the degradation process of surgical sutures, to diagnose the rupture of BV‐4B‐coated silicone catheter and to guide the hybrid fluorescence‐guided surgery (hybrid FGS) of arteriovenous malformation (AVM) with embolization glue.