Targeted gold nanorod contrast agent for prostate cancer detection by photoacoustic imaging

TLDR

The study proposes combining ultrasound with antibody‑conjugated gold nanorod photoacoustic imaging to provide molecular and structural information for early prostate cancer detection. The authors used antibody‑conjugated gold nanorods whose aspect ratio was tuned to shift the plasmon peak into the 700–900 nm near‑IR window, enabling high‑contrast photoacoustic imaging of targeted cancer cells. They demonstrated that the targeted gold nanorods serve as an effective photoacoustic contrast agent, achieving sensitive detection of a single cell layer and enabling early prostate cancer imaging.

Abstract

A targeted gold nanoparticle has been developed as a contrast agent for photoacoustic medical imaging. We have studied cancer cell targeting by antibody conjugated gold nanorods for high contrast photoacoustic imaging. By changing the aspect ratio of the elongated “rod” shape of the gold nanoparticle, its plasmon peak absorption wavelength can be tuned to the near IR (700–900nm) for an increased penetration depth into biological tissue. Effective cell targeting and sensitive photoacoustic detection of a single layer of cells are demonstrated. Combining ultrasound with contrast agent based photoacoustic imaging is proposed as a visual tool to compound molecular and structural information for early stage prostate cancer detection.