Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University (Shenzhen People's Hospital), The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology, 518020, Shenzhen, China.
Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration & Reconstruction, Division of Life Science, and State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2022 Jul;49(8):2560-2583. doi: 10.1007/s00259-022-05726-8. Epub 2022 Mar 12.
Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is a rapidly emerging modality in biomedical research with the advantages of noncontact operation, high optical resolution, and deep penetration. Great efforts and progress in the development of PAI agents with improved imaging resolution and sensitivity have been made over the past 2 decades. Among them, organic agents are the most promising candidates for preclinical/clinical applications due to their outstanding in vivo properties and facile biofunctionalities. Motivated by the unique properties of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogens (AIEgens), various optical probes have been developed for bioanalyte detection, multimodal bioimaging, photodynamic/photothermal therapy, and imaging-guided therapeutics. In particular, AIE-active contrast agents have been demonstrated in PAI applications with excellent performance in imaging resolution and tissue permeability in vivo. This paper presents a brief overview of recent progress in AIE-based agents in the field of photoacoustic imaging. In particular, we focus on the basic concepts, data sorting and comparison, developing trends, and perspectives of photoacoustic imaging. Through numerous typical examples, the way each system realizes the desired photoacoustic performance in various biomedical applications is clearly illustrated. We believe that AIE-based PAI agents would be promising multifunctional theranostic platforms in clinical fields and will facilitate significant advancements in this research topic.
光声成像是生物医学研究中一种新兴的模式，具有非接触操作、高光学分辨率和深穿透的优点。在过去的 20 年中，人们在开发具有更高成像分辨率和灵敏度的光声造影剂方面付出了巨大的努力并取得了进展。其中，由于其出色的体内性能和易于生物功能化的特点，有机试剂是临床前/临床应用最有前途的候选者。受聚集诱导发光（AIE）发光团（AIEgens）独特性质的启发，已经开发了各种光学探针用于生物分析物检测、多模态生物成像、光动力/光热治疗以及成像引导治疗。特别是，AIE 活性对比剂在光声成象应用中得到了证明，其在体内成像分辨率和组织通透性方面表现出优异的性能。本文简要概述了基于 AIE 的试剂在光声成像领域的最新进展。特别是，我们重点介绍了光声成像的基本概念、数据分类和比较、发展趋势和展望。通过大量典型实例，清楚地说明了每个系统在各种生物医学应用中如何实现所需的光声性能。我们相信，基于 AIE 的光声造影剂将成为临床领域有前途的多功能治疗平台，并将促进这一研究课题的重大进展。
