High Spatial and Temporal Resolution NIR-IIb Gastrointestinal Imaging in Mice

• Published in: Nano letters 2022-04, Vol.22 (7), p.2793-2800
• Main Authors: Mi, Chao, Guan, Ming, Zhang, Xun, Yang, Liu, Wu, Sitong, Yang, Zhichao, Guo, Zhiyong, Liao, Jiayan, Zhou, Jiajia, Lin, Fulin, Ma, En, Jin, Dayong, Yuan, Xiaocong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Gastrointestinal Tract - diagnostic imaging; Lanthanoid Series Elements - chemistry; Mice; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Optical Imaging - methods; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared - methods
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04909

Conventional biomedical imaging modalities, including endoscopy, X-rays, and magnetic resonance, are invasive and insufficient in spatial and temporal resolutions for gastrointestinal (GI) tract imaging to guide prognosis and therapy. Here we report a noninvasive method based on lanthanide-doped nanocrystals with ∼1530 nm fluorescence in the near-infrared-IIb window (NIR-IIb, 1500–1700 nm). The rational design of nanocrystals have led to an absolute quantum yield (QY) up to 48.6%. Further benefiting from the minimized scattering through the NIR-IIb window, we enhanced the spatial resolution to ∼1 mm in GI tract imaging, which is ∼3 times higher compared with the near-infrared-IIa (NIR-IIa, 1000–1500 nm) method. The approach also realized a high temporal resolution of 8 frames per second; thus the moment of mice intestinal peristalsis can be captured. Furthermore, with a light-sheet imaging system, we demonstrated a three-dimensional (3D) imaging on the GI tract. Moreover, we successfully translated these advances to diagnose inflammatory bowel disease.