Dynamic manipulation of magnetic contrast agents in photoacoustic imaging

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been used extensively ex vivo for cellular and molecular separations. We recently showed that a coupled nanoparticle combining a superparamagnetic core with a thin, isolated gold shell providing strong absorption in the near infrared can be used for magnetomotive photoacoustic imaging (mmPA), a new technique in which magnetic manipulation of the particle during PA imaging greatly enhances molecular contrast specificity. This particle can also be biologically targeted for in vivo applications, where mmPA imaging provides a spatially localized readout of magnetic manipulations. As an initial test of potential in vivo molecular assays and integrated molecular therapeutics using magnetic manipulation of nanoparticles, we present experiments demonstrating PA readout of trapped magnetic particles in a flow field. An aqueous solution containing a concentration of 0.05-mg/ml 10-μM superparamagnetic iron oxide particles flowed in a 1.65-mm diameter Zeus PTFE (Teflon) sublite wall tubing at three velocities of 0.8, 1.5 and 3.0-mm/s. Opposed permanent magnets separated by 40-mm were positioned on both sides of the tube. As expected, the targeted objects can be magnetically captured and accumulated locally. By translating the magnets, a dynamic magnetic field (0.1-0.3-T) was alternately generated on the side of the tube closest to one of the magnets and created a synchronous PA motion from accumulated targeted objects. This synchronized motion can be used to differentiate the stationary background or other PA sources moving asynchronously with magnetic manipulations (e.g., moving blood) from targeted cells moving synchronously with the magnetic field. This technology can potentially provide sensitive molecular assays of cellular targets travelling in the vasculature (e.g., metastatic tumor cells).