Improved edge detection of regions enriched with gold nanorods inside biological phantom

摘要

Summary form only given. The ability to resect a tumor completely is a key merit in preventing recurrence of the disease. In order to achieve more complete tumor resection the surgeon must clearly identify the tumor margins. This identification is even more crucial when the tumor growth is adjacent or in neurological structures, and therefore it is dangerous to remove extra tissue [1], [2]. In this research we demonstrate the feasibility to identify the border of phantoms enriched with gold nanorods(GNRs) from its surroundings using modulated laser radiation with a wavelength corresponded to their LSPR, a thermal imaging camera and a simple image processing algorithm developed to isolate the GNRs area from its surroundings accurately even under elevated temperatures. The GNRs absorb optical energy which turns in to heat of the GNRs, which spread to their environment. These particles can be specifically targeted to decorate the surface of cancer cells. Shown in Fig.1 (a-b) and (d-e) the thermal images maximum and minimum temperature for two successive irradiations cycles .The subtractions between these thermal images for the maximum and minimum temperature in the two successive thermal cycles shown in (c) and (f) .One can see that after the subtraction only the regions where the temperature was changed were left. These regions are exactly where the irradiation meets the GNRs, leading to better visualization of the phantom with the GNRs border.