In-vivo Tumor detection using diffusion reflection measurements of targeted gold nanorods - a quantitative study

The ability to quantitatively and non-invasively detect nanoparticles has important implications on their development as an in-vivo cancer diagnostic tool. The Diffusion Reflection (DR) method is a simple, non-invasive imaging technique which has been proven useful for the investigation of tissue's optical parameters. In this study, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, tissue-like phantom experiments and in-vivo measurements of the reflected light intensity from tumor bearing mice are presented. Following intravenous injection of antibody conjugated poly (ethylene glycol)-coated (PEGylated) gold nanorods (GNR) to tumor-bearing mice, accumulation of GNR in the tumor was clearly detected by the DR profile of the tumor. The ability of DR measurements to quantitate in-vivo the concentration of the GNR in the tumor was demonstrated and validated with Flame Atomic Absorption spectroscopy results. With GNR as absorbing contrast agents, DR has important potential applications in the image guided therapy of superficial tumors such as head and neck cancer, breast cancer and melanoma.