Designable nanoplasmonic biomarkers for direct microscopy cytopathology diagnostics

• Published in: Journal of biophotonics 2019-11, Vol.12 (11), p.e201900166-n/a
• Main Authors: Wang, Lu, Darviot, Cecile, Zapata‐Farfan, Jennyfer, Patskovsky, Sergiy, Trudel, Dominique, Meunier, Michel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Au/Ag alloy; biomarker; Biomarkers; Biopsy; Control stability; Cytology; cytology diagnostics; Cytopathology; Diagnostic systems; Differentiation; Gold; Microscopy; Nanoparticles; Nanorods; Optical properties; Organic chemistry; plasmonic; Resonance; Resonance scattering; Silver; Silver base alloys; Technology; Visualization
• ISSN: 1864-063X; 1864-0648
• DOI: 10.1002/jbio.201900166

Direct microscopy interpretation of fine‐needle biopsy cytological samples is routinely used by practicing cytopathologists. Adding possibility to identify selective and multiplexed biomarkers on the same samples and with the same microscopy technique can greatly improve diagnostic accuracy. In this article, we propose to use biomarkers based on designable plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) with unique optical properties and excellent chemical stability that can satisfy the above‐mentioned requirements. By finely controlling the size and composition of gold‐silver alloy NPs and gold nanorods, the NPs plasmonic resonance properties, such as scattering efficiency and resonance peak spectral position, are adjusted in order to provide reliable identification and chromatic differentiation by conventional direct microscopy. Efficient darkfield NPs imaging is performed by using a novel circular side illumination adaptor that can be easily integrated into any microscopy setup while preserving standard cytopathology visualization method. The efficiency of the proposed technology for fast visual detection and differentiation of three spectrally distinct NP‐markers is demonstrated in different working media, thus confirming the potential application in conventional cytology preparations. It is worth emphasizing that the presented technology does not interfere with standard visualization with immunohistochemical staining, but should rather be considered as a second imaging modality to confirm the diagnostics. Three colors of nanoparticles (NPs) have been designed according to red‐green‐blue (RGB) light‐emitting diode (LED) for different surrounding media. A circular side‐illumination adaptor for optical microscopy has been designed, based on the idea of applying Au/Ag plasmonic NPs coupled with RGB illumination as multiplexed biomarkers for cytopathology. The approach provides a direct fast visualization for cytopathology diagnostics, conserving compatibility with conventional methods for most pathology and at the same time providing an efficient and cost‐effective way for digital imaging.