Functional nanostructures for advanced cancer imaging and fluorescence-guided surgery

Optical and spectroscopic imaging has emerged as a promising technique in cancer, providing surgeons with real-time imaging and accurate recognition of biochemical molecular signatures. Current imaging window is investigated beyond visible wavelengths to avoid strong absorption and scattering of biological tissues such as fat and blood. On one side, near-infrared (NIR) light is rapidly advancing in recent years because of its deeper tissue penetration and enhanced contrast. On the other side, ultraviolet (UV) light attracts an increasing amount of attention in autofluorescence imaging by endogenous biomolecules without the need of complex design of delivery and targeting mechanisms of fluorescent probes. Nanostructures are a versatile toolbox with unique optoelectronic properties that can be easily engineered into different forms. Various nanoparticles are capable of tumor cell labeling, tumor margin differentiation, and controlled tumor thermal ablation. In this dissertation, we presented the design of outstanding nanostructures to address the key challenges in both NIR and UV wavelengths for advanced cancer imaging and fluorescence-guided surgery. We first established a standard of assessing tissue penetration depth quantitatively in the NIR window and compared the performance of 2 commonly used optical and spectroscopic imaging techniques, Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence imaging. Characteristic probes including plasmonic SERS gold nanoparticles and NIR fluorescent dye indocyanine green (ICG) were measured, analyzed and discussed in real biological tissues. The detailed quantitative evaluation in muscle, fat, skin and particularly in lung tissues served as important references in the clinical application of NIR probes towards intraoperative imaging. Moreover, we developed a vertically stacked multispectral UV imaging sensor enhanced by perovskite nanocrystals (PNC) and apply towards UV autofluorescence imaging and differentiation of tumor cells. UV-responsive PNCs capable of broad UV absorption and narrow visible light emission allowed improved UV spectral resolution analyzed by hue-saturation-value (HSV) in computer imaging. Incorporation of PNC as a surface coating achieved both optical detection and spectral differentiation of wavelengths. To address the labile surface ligands on PNCs, multidentate zwitterion polymers were designed to strengthen ligand affinity and long-term stability for up to 1 month. Subsequent modifications of multidentate polymers brought the photopolymerization motif to the nanocrystal surface and offer in situ stabilization of grown polymer shell. These engineering approaches inspired us to further perform the controlled halide exchange making spin-coating of PNCs in multiple colors possible for a wider dynamic range.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Bioengineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Wang, Ziwen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Nie, Shuming
• Gruebele, Martin H W
• Cunningham, Brian T
• Wang, Hua

• Nanotechnology
• Perovskite Nanocrystal
• Ligand Design
• Uv Imaging
• Cancer Imaging
• Fluorescence-guided Surgery
• Raman Spectroscopy
• Sers
• Nir Imaging

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Ziwen Wang

Language dc:language

eng, en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127450

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F127450