Lee Seon Sook, Choi Yongdoo
Division of Technology Convergence, National Cancer Center, 323 Ilsan-ro, Goyang 10408, Republic of Korea.
Gels. 2025 Aug 15;11(8):649. doi: 10.3390/gels11080649.
Accurate intraoperative localization of deep-seated lesions remains a major challenge in minimally invasive procedures such as laparoscopic and robotic surgeries. Current marking strategies-including ink tattooing and metallic clips-are limited by dye diffusion, or poor intraoperative visibility. To address these issues, we developed and evaluated four thermosensitive injectable hydrogel systems incorporating indocyanine green-human serum albumin (ICG-HSA) complexes: (1) hexanoyl glycol chitosan (HGC), (2) Pluronic F-127, (3) PCL-PEG-PCL, and (4) PLA-PEG-PLA. All hydrogel formulations exhibited sol-gel transitions at physiological temperatures, facilitating in situ dye entrapment and prolonged fluorescence retention. In vivo fluorescence imaging revealed that HGC and Pluronic F-127 hydrogels retained signals for up to five and two days, respectively. In contrast, polyester-based hydrogels (PCL-PEG-PCL and PLA-PEG-PLA) preserved fluorescence for up to 21-30 days. PLA-PEG-PLA showed the highest signal-to-background ratios and sustained intensity, while PCL-PEG-PCL also achieved long-term retention. These findings suggest that thermosensitive hydrogels incorporating ICG-HSA complexes represent promising tissue marker platforms for real-time, minimally invasive, and long-term fluorescence-guided lesion tracking.
在诸如腹腔镜手术和机器人手术等微创手术中，对深部病变进行准确的术中定位仍然是一项重大挑战。当前的标记策略，包括墨水纹身和金属夹，受到染料扩散或术中可视性差的限制。为了解决这些问题，我们开发并评估了四种包含吲哚菁绿-人血清白蛋白（ICG-HSA）复合物的热敏可注射水凝胶系统：（1）己酰基壳聚糖（HGC），（2）普朗尼克F-127，（3）聚己内酯-聚乙二醇-聚己内酯（PCL-PEG-PCL），以及（4）聚乳酸-聚乙二醇-聚乳酸（PLA-PEG-PLA）。所有水凝胶制剂在生理温度下均表现出溶胶-凝胶转变，便于原位捕获染料并延长荧光保留时间。体内荧光成像显示，HGC和普朗尼克F-127水凝胶分别保留信号长达五天和两天。相比之下，聚酯基水凝胶（PCL-PEG-PCL和PLA-PEG-PLA）保留荧光长达21至30天。PLA-PEG-PLA显示出最高的信号与背景比和持续强度，而PCL-PEG-PCL也实现了长期保留。这些发现表明，包含ICG-HSA复合物的热敏水凝胶是用于实时、微创和长期荧光引导病变追踪的有前景的组织标记平台。
