Multicolor perfluorocarbon nanodroplets for multiplexed ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging

For many diseases, such as cancer, simultaneous imaging of different targets can lead to improved diagnosis, better patient prognosis, and therapy guidance/monitoring. PET-CT multiplexing can be cumbersome, costly, and involve radiation exposure. Other modalities such as fluorescent imaging lack clinical and pre-clinical relevance. Therefore, clinically relevant multiplexed imaging is of interest. Previously, we have shown that laser-activated perfluorocarbon nanodroplets (PFCnDs) can be used as dual PA/US contrast agents. In this work, we present development of a cost-effective, safe and promising platform for multiplexing studies based on PA/US imaging of multicolored PFCnDs.