Key Lab of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage of Ministry of Education, Hubei Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials and Medical Protective Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074, China.
Department of Dermatology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, HUST, Wuhan 430022, China.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2022 Nov 1;220:1188-1196. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.08.153. Epub 2022 Aug 28.
Optical imaging and phototherapy are of great significance in the detection, diagnosis, and therapy of diseases. Depth of light in the skin tissues in optical imaging and phototherapy can be significantly improved with the assistance of optical clearing technology by weakening the scattering from the refractive indexes inhomogeneity among skin constituents. However, the barrier of the stratum corneum restricts the penetration of optical clearing agents into deep tissues and limits the optical clearing effects. Herein, we develop an optical clearing strategy by using dissolving microneedle (MN) patches made of hyaluronic acid (HA), which can effortlessly and painlessly penetrate the stratum corneum to reach the epidermis and dermis. By using the HA MN patches, the transmittance of skin tissues is improved by about 12.13 %. We show that the HA MN patches enhance the clarity of blood vessels to realize naked-eyes observation. Moreover, a simulated subcutaneous tumor cells experiment also verifies that the optical clearing effects of the HA MN patch efficiently boost the efficiency of the photodynamic killing of tumor cells by 26.8 %. As a courageous attempt, this study provides a promising avenue to improve the optical clearing effects for further clinical application of optical imaging and phototherapy.
光学成象和光疗在疾病的检测、诊断和治疗方面具有重要意义。光学透明技术可以通过削弱皮肤成分折射率不均匀引起的散射，显著提高光学成象和光疗中皮肤组织内的光深。然而，角质层的屏障限制了光学透明剂渗透到深层组织，限制了光学透明效果。在此，我们开发了一种使用透明质酸（HA）制成的溶解微针（MN）贴片的光学透明策略，它可以毫不费力地穿透角质层到达表皮和真皮。使用 HA MN 贴片，皮肤组织的透过率提高了约 12.13%。我们表明，HA MN 贴片增强了血管的清晰度，实现了肉眼观察。此外，模拟皮下肿瘤细胞实验也验证了 HA MN 贴片的光学透明效果有效地将肿瘤细胞的光动力杀伤效率提高了 26.8%。作为一项勇敢的尝试，本研究为提高光学透明效果以进一步将光学成像和光疗应用于临床提供了一个有前途的途径。
