Nanotube-porphyrin molecular structure and applications of same
A molecular structure. In one embodiment, the molecular structure includes a nanotube formed With a plurality of carbon atoms having a first end, an opposite, second end, and a body portion defined there between, wherein the body portion has an interior surface defining a cavity, an opposite, exterior surface and a longitudinal axis therethrough the cavity, and a porphyrin molecule having a plurality of carbon atoms and a first plurality of hydrogen atoms, wherein at its original state the porphyrin molecule has a plurality of pyrrole units and each pyrrole unit is coupled to another pyrrole unit through a methine bridge so as to form a ring structure with a second plurality of hydrogen atoms positioned peripherally along the ring structure. The porphyrin molecule is chemically coupled to the interior surface of the nanotube such that at least one of the second plurality of hydrogen atoms positioned peripherally along the ring structure is replaced by a carbon atom of the nanotube.
RGD coated protein microspheres as a dual fluorescent and magnetomotive contrast agent for targeted cancer imaging with magnetomotive optical coherence tomography
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a novel technology that has been developed for various clinical applications ranging from ophthalmology to oncology. OCT is analogous to ultrasound technology but with micron by using light waves instead of sound waves providing detailed morphological or structural information at the cellular level about the tissue specimen. Magneto-motive OCT (MM-OCT) is a recently developed modality of OCT in which a magnetic field is modulated on and off during imaging. With the development of this modality, exogeneous contrast agents are becoming more important to target markers that are expressed prior to morphological changes that structural OCT can only detect. Modified protein microspheres consisting of an oil core and a hydrophilic BSA protein shell are being presented as a multi-modal contrast agent vehicle. The protein microspheres are encapsulated with iron oxide in the oil core to provide the magnetic signal contrast and a near infrared dye to provide a fluorescence contrast. The outer surface is functionalized using a layer-by-layer adhesion process to attach RGD peptide sequences to target integrin receptors. Under MM-OCT, these agents have been detected above various levels of background tissue scattering demonstrating that these agents can provide added contrast to OCT through the magnetic signal. These agents were incubated with various cell lines with differing levels of alpha(v)beta(3) integrin receptor expression that were quantified using western blotting and fluorescent antibody immunohistochemical staining. The normal control cell line used was the CRL-4010. The breast cancer cell lines studied included CRL-2314, SK-BR-3, MCF-7, and 13762 MAT B III cells. These studies address the binding specificity and sensitivity of the RGD functionalized protein microspheres to the alpha(v)beta(3) integrin receptors. In addition, a quantitative analysis is being performed to correlate the relative levels of bound microspheres to the cells, measured through MM-OCT measurements and through their fluorescence signals of the microspheres, and the cell’s alpha(v)beta(3) integrin receptor expression derived from the western blot experiments. Preliminary results indicate that these agents have a higher affinity to the cancer cells over the normal epithelial cells and are also internalized by the cells and could have to potential to become localized targeted drug delivery vehicles. In an NMU carcinogen induced rat animal model, the targeted protein microspheres were injected in-vivo. These preliminary results, using a multi-spectral dark box imaging system, demonstrate the localization of the microspheres to the vasculature surrounding the tumor. These microspheres are being presented as a novel contrast agent to a novel high resolution imaging modality targeted at cancer.
Optical coherence tomography: the intraoperative assessment of lymph nodes in breast cancer
During breast-conserving surgeries, axillary lymph nodes draining from the primary tumor site are removed for disease staging. Although a high number of lymph nodes are often resected during sentinel and lymph-node dissections, only a relatively small percentage of nodes are found to be metastatic, a fact that must be weighed against potential complications such as lymphedema. Without a real-time in vivo or in situ intraoperative imaging tool to provide a microscopic assessment of the nodes, postoperative paraffin section histopathological analysis currently remains the gold standard in assessing the status of lymph nodes. This paper investigates the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT), a high-resolution real-time microscopic optical-imaging technique, for the intraoperative ex vivo imaging and assessment of axillary lymph nodes. Normal (13), reactive (1), and metastatic (3) lymph nodes from 17 human patients with breast cancer were imaged intraoperatively with OCT. These preliminary clinical studies have identified scattering changes in the cortex, relative to the capsule, which can be used to differentiate normal from reactive and metastatic nodes. These optical scattering changes are correlated with inflammatory and immunological changes observed in the follicles and germinal centers. These results suggest that intraoperative OCT has the potential to assess the real-time node status in situ, without having to physically resect and histologically process specimens to visualize microscopic features.
Cancer Research: Intraoperative evaluation of breast tumor margins with optical coherence tomography
As breast cancer screening rates increase, smaller and more numerous lesions are being identified earlier, leading to more breast-conserving surgical procedures. Achieving a clean surgical margin represents a technical challenge with important clinical implications. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is introduced as an intraoperative high-resolution imaging technique that assesses surgical breast tumor margins by providing real-time microscopic images up to 2 mm beneath the tissue surface. In a study of 37 patients split between training and study groups, OCT images covering 1 cm(2) regions were acquired from surgical margins of lumpectomy specimens, registered with ink, and correlated with corresponding histologic sections. A 17-patient training set used to establish standard imaging protocols and OCT evaluation criteria showed that areas of higher scattering tissue with a heterogeneous pattern were indicative of tumor cells and tumor tissue in contrast to lower scattering adipocytes found in normal breast tissue. The remaining 20 patients were enrolled into the feasibility study. Of these lumpectomy specimens, 11 were identified with a positive or close surgical margin and 9 were identified with a negative margin under OCT. Based on histologic findings, 9 true positives, 9 true negatives, 2 false positives, and 0 false negatives were found, yielding a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 82%. These results show the potential of OCT as a real-time method for intraoperative margin assessment in breast-conserving surgeries.
Clinical feasibility of microscopically-guided breast needle biopsy using a fiber-optic probe with computer-aided detection
Needle biopsy of small or nonpalpable breast lesions has a high nondiagnostic sampling rate even when needle position is guided by stereotaxis or ultrasound. We assess the feasibility of using a near-infrared fiber optic probe and computer-aided detection for the microscopic guidance of needle breast biopsy procedures. Specimens from nine consented patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery were assessed intraoperatively using a needle device with an integrated fiber-optic probe capable of assessing two physical tissue properties highly correlated to pathology. Immediately following surgical resection, specimens were probed by inserting the optical biopsy needle device into the tissue, simulating the procedure used to position standard biopsy needles. Needle positions were marked and correlated with histology, which verified measurements obtained from 58 needle positions, including 40 in adipose and 18 in tumor tissue. This study yielded tissue classifications based on measurement of optical refractive index and scattering. Confidence-rating schemes yielded combined sensitivity of 89% (16/18) and specificity of 78% (31/40). Refractive index tests alone identified tumor tissue with a sensitivity of 83% (15/18) and specificity of 75% (30/40). Scattering profiles independently identified tumor tissue with a sensitivity of 61% (11/18) and specificity of 60% (24/40). These results show that a biopsy needle with an integrated fiber optic probe can be used to identify breast tumor tissue for sampling. Integration of this probe into current practices offers the potential to reduce nondiagnostic sampling rates by directly evaluating in situ microscopic tissue properties in real-time, before removal.
Optical properties of tissues quantified by Fourier-transform light scattering
We employ Fourier-transform light scattering, a technique recently developed in our laboratory, to study the scattering properties of rat organ tissues. Using the knowledge of the complex field associated with high-resolution microscope images of tissue slices, we extracted the scattering mean-free path l(s) and anisotropy factor g, which characterize the bulk tissue for three different rat organs. This “bottom up” approach to measuring tissue scattering parameters allows for predicting the wave transport phenomena within the organ of interest at a multitude of scales-from organelle to organ level.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) as a diagnostic tool for the real-time intraoperative assessment of breast cancer surgical margins
Background: The decrease in the number of breast cancer deaths has largely been attributed to increased awareness, earlier detection, and improved treatment options. However, as the number of breast-conserving surgeries rose over the years, the need for negative margins and little or no residual disease has become critical to help reduce the chances of local recurrence. OCT is a high resolution imaging modality that has been used to image tumor margins in an NMU-carcinogen-induced rat mammary tumor model. Due to the location of breast lesions, the use of needle-based imaging probes may be used to further extend the reach of the OCT imaging beam by incorporating an optical fiber into biopsy needle tips, providing real-time information to guide biopsies or to place localization wires.
Material & Methods: A clinical spectral domain OCT system was developed with a super luminescent diode light source centered at 1310 nm with a bandwidth of 92 nm yielding an axial resolution of 8.3 µm. The beam delivery sample arm uses a 60 mm achromatic lens to focus 4.75 mW of light to a 35.0 µm spot size (transverse resolution) with a confocal parameter of 1.47 mm. The patients included in this study had primary breast tumors diagnosed by needle-biopsy and were in need of surgical resection, as determined by their physicians. At Carle Foundation Hospital, the OCT system was placed inside the operating room during breast conserving surgical procedures to image the tissue specimens. The OCT images were evaluated by a single operator allowing for consistent classification based on the level of scattering intensity and heterogeneity, scattering profile, and physical extent of the highly scattering area.
Results: An initial training data set of OCT images from 17 patients was used to establish standard imaging protocols and standard evaluation criteria of the surgical margins. Of the 20 additional tissue specimen imaged for the feasibility study, 11 were identified as having a positive or close surgical margin and nine as a negative margin under OCT. In comparing to the H&E histology, there were 9 true positives, 9 true negatives, 2 false positives, and 0 false negatives yielding a sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 100%.
Discussion: With an imaging penetration depth of 2-3 mm, equivalent to that used for histological assessment, OCT provides unique real-time cellular-level imaging to identify positive and close margins. In these studies, areas of higher scattering tissue with an irregular or heterogeneous pattern were identified, differentiating them from the abundant adipose tissue found in normal breast tissue. The small nucleus to cytoplasm (N/C) ratio is observed with low-scattering adipocytes compared with the larger N/C ratio found from highly-scattering tumor cells. These intraoperative imaging studies have demonstrated the ability for OCT to identify positive surgical margins.
Fourier transform light scattering of inhomogeneous and dynamic structures
Fourier transform light scattering (FTLS) is a novel experimental approach that combines optical microscopy, holography, and light scattering for studying inhomogeneous and dynamic media. In FTLS the optical phase and amplitude of a coherent image field are quantified and propagated numerically to the scattering plane. Because it detects all the scattered angles (spatial frequencies) simultaneously in each point of the image, FTLS can be regarded as the spatial equivalent of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, where all the temporal frequencies are detected at each moment in time.
Coherent optical imaging and guided interventions in breast cancer: translating technology into clinical applications
Breast cancer continues to be one of the most widely diagnosed forms of cancer in women and the second leading type of cancer deaths for women. The metastatic spread and staging of breast cancer is typically evaluated through the nodal assessment of the regional lymphatic system, and often this is performed during the surgical resection of the tumor mass. The recurrence rate of breast cancer is highly dependent on several factors including the complete removal of the primary tumor during surgery, and the presence of cancer cells in involved lymph nodes. Hence, developing means to more accurately resect tumor cells, along with the tumor mass, and ensure negative surgical margins, offers the potential to impact outcomes of breast cancer. The use of diffuse optical tomography has been applied for screening optical mammography applications as an alternative to standard x-ray mammography. The use of coherence ranging and coherent optical imaging in breast tissue has also found numerous applications, including intra-operative assessment of tumor margin status during lumpectomy procedures, assessment of lymph node changes for staging metastatic spread, and for guiding needle-biopsy procedures. The development, pre-clinical testing, and translation of techniques such as low-coherence interferometry (LCI) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) into clinical applications in breast cancer is demonstrated in these feasibility studies.
Magnetic protein microspheres as dynamic contrast agents for magnetomotive optical coherence tomography
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an emerging biomedical imaging modality that has been developed over the last 15 years. More recently, OCT has been used for the intraoperative imaging of tumor margins in breast cancer and axillary lymph nodes providing a real time in-vivo assessment of the tissue morphology. Traditional OCT images are limited by only being able to observe morphological structures. As diagnostic medicine continues to push for earlier detection, one must develop functional imaging modalities that would detect molecular information in-vivo allowing a real-time microscopic analysis of the tissue specimen. A novel modality of OCT called magnetomotive-OCT (MMOCT) has been developed by our group, employing an induced modulated magnetic field with a magnetic contrast agent to create the added contrast to structural OCT images. Modified protein microspheres with a BSA protein shell functionalized with RGD peptide sequences for targeting and an oil core have been designed and synthesized. Magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4) and Nile Red dye have been encapsulated into its oil core. These microspheres have previously been demonstrated to target cancer cells by functionalizing them with a layer of RGD peptides and could be functionalized with monoclonal antibodies. Preliminary results show that these magnetic microspheres, which are 2.0- 5.0 microns in size, are readily detectable under MM-OCT when embedded in a 5% agarose gel, in a 3-D scaffold of macrophage cells previously incubated with the microspheres, and when injected in-vivo into a tumor from an NMUcarcinogen rat animal model for breast cancer.
Intraoperative Needle-Based Refractive Index Measurement of ex vivo Human Breast Tissue
Refractive index measurements offer high contrast between normal fatty tissue and diagnostically significant structures. We have developed a needle-based device capable of measuring internal tissue properties. We present preliminary clinical data from human specimens.
Optical coherence tomography: a review of clinical development from bench to bedside
Since its introduction, optical coherence tomography (OCT) technology has advanced from the laboratory bench to the clinic and back again. Arising from the fields of low coherence interferometry and optical time- and frequency-domain reflectometry, OCT was initially demonstrated for retinal imaging and followed a unique path to commercialization for clinical use. Concurrently, significant technological advances were brought about from within the research community, including improved laser sources, beam delivery instruments, and detection schemes. While many of these technologies improved retinal imaging, they also allowed for the application of OCT to many new clinical areas. As a result, OCT has been clinically demonstrated in a diverse set of medical and surgical specialties, including gastroenterology, dermatology, cardiology, and oncology, among others. The lessons learned in the clinic are currently spurring a new set of advances in the laboratory that will again expand the clinical use of OCT by adding molecular sensitivity, improving image quality, and increasing acquisition speeds. This continuous cycle of laboratory development and clinical application has allowed the OCT technology to grow at a rapid rate and represents a unique model for the translation of biomedical optics to the patient bedside. This work presents a brief history of OCT development, reviews current clinical applications, discusses some clinical translation challenges, and reviews laboratory developments poised for future clinical application.