title: Optical coherence contrast imaging using gold nanorods in living mice eyes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a powerful imaging modality to visualize tissue structures, with axial image pixel resolution as high as 1.6 μm in tissue. However, OCT is intrinsically limited to providing structural information as the OCT contrast is produced by optically scattering tissues.
  
  
  METHODS
  Gold nanorods (GNRs) were injected into the anterior chamber (AC) and cornea of mice eyes which could create a significant OCT signal and hence could be used as a contrast agent for in vivo OCT imaging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A dose of 30 nM of GNRs (13 nm in diameter and 45 nm in length) were injected to the AC of mice eyes and produced an OCT contrast nearly 50-fold higher than control mice injected with saline. Furthermore, the lowest detectable concentration of GNRs in living mice AC was experimentally estimated to be as low as 120 pM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high sensitivity and low toxicity of GNRs brings great promise for OCT to uniquely become a high-resolution molecular imaging modality.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, the Bio-X Program and the Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.|Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de la Zerda
authors.affiliation: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Shradha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prabhulkar
authors.affiliation: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Victor L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.affiliation: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ruggeri
authors.affiliation: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Amit S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Paranjape
authors.affiliation: Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, the Bio-X Program and the Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.
authors.forename: Frezghi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Habte
authors.affiliation: Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, the Bio-X Program and the Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.|Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.|Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.
authors.forename: Sanjiv S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Gambhir
authors.affiliation: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Awdeh
mesh_terms: D019412:Anatomy, Cross-Sectional; D000818:Animals; D000867:Anterior Chamber / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D003315:Cornea / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D006046:Gold
keywords: contrast agent; gold nanorods; molecular imaging; ophthalmic imaging; optical coherence tomography