In vivo measurement of singlet oxygen luminescence kinetics is affected by the heterogeneity of biological samples. Even though singlet oxygen luminescence detection is technically getting easier, the analysis of signals from biological samples is still far from quantitative real time surveillance as it is aspired by the community. In this paper small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) are used for modelling the general behaviour of heterogeneous samples. The geometry of the SUVs can be determined independently using dynamic light scattering. Therefore an accurate theoretical description of the generation, deactivation and diffusion of the singlet oxygen is possible. The theoretical model developed here perfectly fits the experimental results. Thus the location of the singlet oxygen generating a photosensitizer molecule can be exactly determined from the kinetics of the singlet oxygen luminescence. The application of the used theoretical approach thus allows for accurate quantitative measurements in SUVs.

Real-time surveillance of photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been desired by the research community for a long time. The impact of the treatment is encoded in the phosphorescence kinetics of its main mediator: singlet oxygen. We report successful in vivo measurements of these weak kinetics through the skin of living mice after systemic drug application. Using special high transmission optics centered around 1200, 1270 and 1340 nm, singlet oxygen phosphorescence can be clearly discriminated from other signals. N-(2-Hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide copolymers conjugated with pyropheophorbide-a exhibit highly selective accumulation in tumors. Signals of this drug in tumors were compared to those in normal tissue. In both places, the major part of the signal could be identified as arising from drug still circulating in the bloodstream. Despite high concentrations of extravasated drug in the tumors due to the EPR effect, nearly no signal could be detected from these photosensitizers in vivo, contradicting in vitro experiments. We propose that the reason for this discrepancy is oxygen depletion in tumor tissue in vivo, even at moderate (at PDT scale) illumination intensities, soon after the start of the illumination. These results underline the importance of singlet oxygen surveillance during PDT treatment.

The presented work addresses the influence of illumination intensity on the amount and locations of singlet oxygen generation in tumor tissue. We used time-resolved optical detection at the typical emission wavelength around 1270 nm and at 1200 nm where there is no singlet oxygen phosphorescence to determine the phosphorescence kinetics. The discussed data comprise in vivo measurements in tumor-laden HET-CAM and mice. The results show that illumination that is too intense is a major issue, affecting many PDT treatments and all singlet oxygen measurements in vivo so far. In such cases, photosensitization and oxygen consumption exceed oxygen supply, limiting singlet oxygen generation to the blood vessels and walls, while photosensitizers in the surrounding tissue will likely not participate. Being a limitation for the treatment, on one hand, on the other, this finding offers a new method for tumor diagnosis when using photosensitizers exploiting the EPR effect. In contrast to high-intensity PDT, some papers reported successful treatment with nanoparticular drugs using much lower illumination intensity. The question of whether, with such illumination, singlet oxygen is indeed generated in areas apart from vessels and walls, is addressed by numerical analysis. In addition, we discuss how to perform measurements at such low intensities.