Currently available cancer therapies can cause damage to healthy tissue. We developed a unique method for specific mechanical lysis of cancer cells using superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle rotation under a weak alternating magnetic field. Iron oxide core nanoparticles were coated with cetuximab, an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibody, for specific tumor targeting. Nude mice bearing a head and neck tumor were treated with cetuximab-coated magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and then received a 30 min treatment with a weak external alternating magnetic field (4 Hz) applied on alternating days (total of seven treatments, over 14 days). This treatment, compared to a pure antibody, exhibited a superior cell death effect over time. Furthermore, necrosis in the tumor site was detected by magnetic resonance (MR) images. Thermal camera images of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cultures demonstrated that cell death occurred purely by a mechanical mechanism.

Emphasis using phototheranostics has been placed on the construction of multifunctional nanoplatforms for simultaneous tumor diagnosis and therapy. Herein, we put forth a novel nanosized luminescent material using the incorporation of red emissive carbon dots on gold nanorods through polyethylene glycol as a covalent linkage for dual-modal imaging and photothermal therapy. The novel nanohybrids, not only retain the optical properties of the gold nanorod and carbon dots, but also possess superior imaging performance in both confocal laser scanning microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. The nanohybrids also exhibit excellent photothermal performance as phototheranostic nanohybrid probes for in vitro assays. This study promises a new multifunctional nanoplatform for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.

Tissue-like phantoms are widely used as a model for mimicking the optical properties of live tissue. This paper presents the results of a diffusion reflection method and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy measurements of fluorescein-conjugated gold nanorods in solution, as well as inserted in solid tissue-imitating phantoms. A lack of consistency between the fluorescence lifetime results of the solutions and the phantoms raises a question about the ability of tissue-like phantoms to maintain the optical properties of inserted contrast agents.

In this paper we consider a novel approach to analyzing medical images by applying a concept typically employed in geospatial studies. For certain diseases, such as asthma, there is a relevant distinction between the heterogeneity of constriction in airways for patients compared to healthy individuals. In order to describe such heterogeneities quantitatively, we utilize spatial correlation in the realm of lung computer tomography (CT). Specifically, we apply the approximate profile-likelihood estimator (APLE) to simulated lung air-trapping data selected based on potential interest to pulmonologists, and we explore reference values obtainable through this statistic. Results indicate that APLE values are independent of air-trapping values, and can provide useful insight into spatial patterns of these values within the lungs in situations where other common metrics, such as the coefficient of variation, reveal little. The APLE relies on a neighborhood weights matrix to define spatial relatedness of considered regions, and among a few weight structures explored, a working optimal choice seems to be one based on the inverse distance squared between regions of interest. The application yields a new method to help analyze the degree of heterogeneity in lung CT images, which can be generalized to other medical images as well.

Tissue-like phantoms are widely used as a model for mimicking the optical properties of live tissue. This paper presents the results of a diffusion reflection method as well as fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy measurements of fluorescein-conjugated gold nanorods in solution as well as inserted in solid tissue-imitating phantoms. A lack of consistency between the fluorescence lifetime results of the solutions and the phantoms raises a question about the ability of tissue-like phantoms to maintain the optical properties of inserted contrast agents.