title: Engineered microsphere contrast agents for optical coherence tomography.
abstract: Contrast agents are utilized in virtually every imaging modality to enhance diagnostic capabilities. We introduce a novel class of optical contrast agent, namely, encapsulating microspheres, that are based not on fluorescence but on scattering nanoparticles within the shell or core. The agents are suitable for reflection- or scattering-based techniques such as optical coherence tomography, light microscopy, and reflectance confocal microscopy. We characterize the optical properties of gold-, melanin-, and carbon-shelled contrast agents and demonstrate enhancement of optical coherence tomography imaging after intravenous injection of such an agent into a mouse.
authors.affiliation: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Tin Man
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Oldenburg
authors.forename: Shoeb
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sitafalwalla
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Farah Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Toublan
authors.forename: Kenneth S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Suslick
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Boppart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media; D008099:Liver / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008863:Microspheres; D036103:Nanotechnology; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D014054:Tomography
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media