Photoacoustic molecular imaging for in vivo liver iron quantitation

Federica Maccarinelli; Fernando Carmona; Maria Regoni; Paolo Arosio

doi:10.1117/1.JBO.21.5.056008

27 May 2016 Photoacoustic molecular imaging for in vivo liver iron quantitation

Federica Maccarinelli, Fernando Carmona, Maria Regoni, Paolo Arosio

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Biomedical Optics, Vol. 21, Issue 5, 056008 (May 2016). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.21.5.056008

Abstract

A recent study showed that ferritin is a suitable endogenous contrast agent for photoacoustic molecular imaging in cultured mammalian cells. We have therefore tested whether this imaging technique can be used for in vivo quantification of iron in mouse livers. To verify this hypothesis, we used multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) to image albino CD1 mice before and after experimental iron loading. Postmortem assays showed that the iron treatment caused a 15-fold increase in liver iron and a 40-fold increase in liver ferritin levels, while in vivo longitudinal analysis using MSOT revealed just a 1.6-fold increase in the ferritin/iron photoacoustic signal in the same animals. We conclude that MSOT can monitor changes in ferritin/iron levels in vivo, but its sensitivity is much lower than that of ex vivo iron assays.

Citation Download Citation

Federica Maccarinelli, Fernando Carmona, Maria Regoni, and Paolo Arosio "Photoacoustic molecular imaging for in vivo liver iron quantitation," Journal of Biomedical Optics 21(5), 056008 (27 May 2016). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.21.5.056008

Published: 27 May 2016

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

JOURNAL ARTICLE
5 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY