ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc., 2300 Alfred-Nobel Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4S 2A4.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2013 Apr 24;5(8):2835-44. doi: 10.1021/am3028519. Epub 2013 Mar 12.
The interest in optical molecular imaging of small animals in vivo has been steadily increased in the last two decades as it is being adopted by not only academic laboratories but also the biotechnical and pharmaceutical industries. In this Spotlight paper, the elements for in vivo optical molecular imaging are briefly reviewed, including contrast agents, i.e., various fluorescent reporters, and the most commonly used technologies to detect the reporters. The challenges particularly for in vivo fluorescence imaging are discussed and solutions to overcome the said-challenges are presented. An advanced imaging technique, in vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging, is introduced together with a few application examples. Taking advantage of the long fluorescence lifetime of quantum dots, a method to achieve background-free in vivo fluorescence small animal imaging is demonstrated.
在过去的二十年中，小动物活体光学分子成像的研究兴趣稳步增加，不仅被学术实验室采用，也被生物技术和制药行业采用。在本期特写文章中，简要回顾了小动物活体光学分子成像的要素，包括对比剂，即各种荧光报告物，以及最常用的检测报告物的技术。讨论了特别针对活体荧光成像的挑战，并提出了克服这些挑战的解决方案。介绍了一种先进的成像技术，即活体荧光寿命成像，并给出了一些应用实例。利用量子点的长荧光寿命，展示了一种实现无背景活体荧光小动物成像的方法。
