Application of organic IR788-loaded semi-interpenetrating network dyes for photoacoustic imaging

In this study, we present the feasibility of a biocompatible Lumogen® IR788-loaded polymeric nanoparticle (NP) as a novel photoabsorbing agent for photoacoustic (PA) imaging. The NP was fabricated through a semi-interpenetrating network (sIPN) within the core of F127 resulting in IR788-sIPN formation. To evaluate the PA sensitivity of the material, tubing phantoms were injected with various concentrations of IR788-sIPN, and H1975 lung-tumor-bearing mice were intratumorally injected with IR788-sIPN. Compared with the background, the PA contrast was enhanced up to 80 and 40% in the phantom and in vivo experiments, respectively. IR788-sIPN can be a feasible IR-absorbing material for early cancer detection.