Medical Physics Seminar - Monday, October 26, 2009

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Gold Nanoparticles: Imaging/Detection Agents at Two Levels of the EM Spectrum

Evan J. Boote, Ph.D.

Research Associate Professor

Medical Physicists, Department of Radiology

University of Missouri-Columbia

Columbia, Missouri.

Research in the use of gold nanoparticles as molecular imaging agents continues. The ability to detect and track small numbers of gold nanoparticle (AuNP) labeled cells will be a critical contribution to the ongoing work to identify effective targeting vectors. Due to localized surface Plasmon resonance, gold nanoparticles are useful within the optical spectrum. Concentrations of gold nanoparticles contribute to an increase in tissue density at the microscopic scale. Combined with the high atomic number of the element, gold presents potential as an x-ray contrast agent, particularly with higher energy methods, such as CT imaging.

Our work at MU has been focused on proving the ability of various approaches to detect small concentrations of gold nanoparticles in clusters of cells. This has been done using an ultra-high resolution computed tomography system as well as larger animal models with clinical CT systems. For the visible spectrum, a small number of PC-3 cells (10 per cm3) were detected in a photoacoustic experiment with the cells circulated through a chamber. This result indicates the potential of these labeled AuNP to provide detect cells circulating through the blood stream.

The presentation will discuss these potential applications and present ongoing research involving phantoms, in vitro cells, and animal models.

Location: 1345 Health Sciences Learning Center (HSLC)

Time:  4:00pm-5:00pm

Refreshments will be provided prior to the talk

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