Exogenous Contrast Agents in Photoacoustic Imaging: An In Vivo Review for Tumor Imaging

The field of cancer theranostics has grown rapidly in the past decade and innovative ‘biosmart’ theranostic materials are being synthesized and studied to combat the fast growth of cancer metastases. While current state-of-the-art oncology imaging techniques have decreased mortality rates, patients...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Farooq, Afifa (author)
Other Authors: Sabah, Shafiya (author), Dhou, Salam (author), Alsawaftah, Nour (author), Husseini, Ghaleb (author)
Format: article
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11073/32569
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The field of cancer theranostics has grown rapidly in the past decade and innovative ‘biosmart’ theranostic materials are being synthesized and studied to combat the fast growth of cancer metastases. While current state-of-the-art oncology imaging techniques have decreased mortality rates, patients still face a diminished quality of life due to treatment. Therefore, improved diagnostics are needed to define in vivo tumor growths on a molecular level to achieve image-guided therapies and tailored dosage needs. This review summarizes in vivo studies that utilize contrast agents within the field of photoacoustic imaging—a relatively new imaging modality—for tumor detection, with a special focus on imaging and transducer parameters. This paper also details the different types of contrast agents used in this novel diagnostic field, i.e., organic-based, metal/inorganic-based, and dye-based contrast agents. We conclude this review by discussing the challenges and future direction of photoacoustic imaging.