Quantitative pharmacokinetic and biodistribution studies for fluorescent imaging agents.

Pharmacokinetics and biodistribution studies are essential for characterizing fluorescent agents . However, few simple methods based on fluorescence imaging are available that account for tissue optical properties and sample volume differences. We describe a method for simultaneously quantifying mean fluorescence intensity of whole blood and homogenized tissues in glass capillary tubes for two fluorescent agents, ABY-029 and IRDye 680LT, using wide-field imaging and tissue-specific calibration curves.

Quantifying Imaging Agent Binding and Dissociation in 3-D Cancer Spheroid Tissue Culture Using Paired-Agent Principles.

Binding kinetics play an important role in cancer diagnosis and therapeutics. However, current methods of quantifying binding kinetics fail to consider the three-dimensional environment that drugs and imaging agents experience in biological tissue. In response, a methodology to assay agent binding and dissociation in 3-D tissue culture was developed using paired-agent molecular imaging principles.

Improved intraoperative identification of close margins in oral squamous cell carcinoma resections using a dual aperture fluorescence ratio approach: first in-human results.

Significance: Surgical excision is the main treatment for solid tumors in oral squamous cell carcinomas, where wide local excision (achieving a healthy tissue margin of around the excised tumor) is the goal as it results in reduced local recurrence rates and improved overall survival.

Aim: No clinical methods are available to assess the complete surgical margin intraoperatively while the patient is still on the operating table; and while recent intraoperative back-bench fluorescence-guided surgery approaches have shown promise for detecting "positive" inadequate margins (), they have had limited success in the detection of "close" inadequate margins (1 to 5 mm). Here, a dual aperture fluorescence ratio (dAFR) approach was evaluated as a means of improving detection of close margins.

A cadaveric breast cancer tissue phantom for phase-contrast X-ray imaging applications.

Background: As mammography X-ray imaging technologies advance and provide elevated contrast in soft tissues, a need has developed for reliable imaging phantoms for use in system design and component calibration. In advanced imaging modalities such as refraction-based methods, it is critical that developed phantoms capture the biological details seen in clinical precancerous and cancerous cases while minimizing artifacts that may be caused due to phantom production. This work presents the fabrication of a breast tissue imaging phantom from cadaveric breast tissue suitable for use in both transmission and refraction-enhanced imaging systems.

A paired-agent fluorescent molecular imaging strategy for quantifying antibody drug target engagement in window chamber xenograft models.

A paired-agent fluorescent molecular imaging strategy is presented as a method to measure drug target engagement in whole tumor imaging. The protocol involves dynamic imaging of a pair of targeted and control imaging agents prior to and following antibody therapy. Simulations demonstrated that antibody "drug target engagement" can be estimated within a 15%-error over a wide range of tumor physiology (blood flow, vascular permeability, target density) and antibody characteristics (affinity, binding rates).