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Skin water content monitoring is important for diagnostics and management of edema, dehydration, and other skin conditions as well as for cosmetic applications. Because optoacoustic (OA) technique has high (optical) contrast and (ultrasound) resolution and significant probing depth, it may be suitable for accurate, noninvasive water content monitoring in the skin. In this work we studied OA response from skin tissue phantoms and human wrist skin in the wavelength range from 1370 nm to 1650 nm using a novel, tunable OPO OA system. We identified optimal wavelengths for OA water content monitoring in different skin layers. The results of our study suggest that the OA technique may become a valuable, quantitative tool for accurate, high-resolution water content monitoring in the skin and other tissues and may find wide applications in dermatology, cosmetology, and tissue trauma management.

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The fluorescence-based methods of single-molecule optical detection have opened up unprecedented possibilities for imaging, monitoring, and sensing at a single-molecule level. However, single-molecule detection methods are very slow, making them practically inapplicable. In this paper, we show how to overcome this key limitation using the expanded laser spot, laser excitation in a nonfluorescent spectral window of biomolecules, and more binding fluorescent molecules on a biomolecule that increases the detection volume and the number of collected photons. We demonstrate advantages of the developed approach unreachable by any other technique using detection of single cardiac troponin-T molecules: (i) 1000-fold faster than by known approaches, (ii) real-time imaging of single troponin-T molecules dissolved in human blood serum, (iii) measurement of troponin-T concentration with a clinically important sensitivity of about 1 pg/mL. The developed approach can be used for ultrafast, ultrasensitive detection, monitoring, and real-time imaging of other biomolecules as well as of larger objects including pathogenic viruses and bacteria.

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BACKGROUND: Researchers have explored the use of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) as a cell-based therapy to cover wounds in burn patients; however, underlying mechanistic aspects are not completely understood. We hypothesized that ASCs would improve post-burn wound healing after eschar excision and grafting by increasing wound blood flow via induction of angiogenesis-related pathways. METHODS: To test the hypothesis, we used an ovine burn model. A 5 cm2 full thickness burn wound was induced on each side of the dorsum. After 24 hours, the burned skin was excised and a 2 cm2 patch of autologous donor skin was grafted. The wound sites were randomly allocated to either topical application of 7 million allogeneic ASCs or placebo treatment (phosphate-buffered saline [PBS]). Effects of ASCs culture media was also compared to those of PBS. Wound healing was assessed at one and two weeks following the application of ASCs. Allogeneic ASCs were isolated, cultured and characterized from non-injured healthy sheep. The identity of the ASCs was confirmed by flow cytometry analysis, differentiation into multiple lineages and gene expression via real-time polymerase chain reaction. Wound blood flow, epithelialization, graft size and take and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were determined via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot. RESULTS: Treatment with ASCs accelerated the patch graft growth compared to the control (p < 0.05). Topical application of ASCs significantly increased wound blood flow (p < 0.05). Expression of VEGF was significantly higher in the wounds treated with ASCs compared to control (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ASCs accelerated grafted skin growth possibly by increasing the blood flow via angiogenesis induced by a VEGF-dependent pathway.

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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can lead to chronic diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders and epilepsy. The hippocampus, one of the most affected brain region after TBI, plays a critical role in learning and memory and is one of the only two regions in the brain in which new neurons are generated throughout life from neural stem cells (NSC) in the dentate gyrus (DG). These cells migrate into the granular layer where they integrate into the hippocampus circuitry. While increased proliferation of NSC in the hippocampus is known to occur shortly after injury, reduced neuronal maturation and aberrant migration of progenitor cells in the hilus contribute to cognitive and neurological dysfunctions, including epilepsy. Here, we tested the ability of a novel, proprietary non-invasive nano-pulsed laser therapy (NPLT), that combines near-infrared laser light (808 nm) and laser-generated, low-energy optoacoustic waves, to mitigate TBI-driven impairments in neurogenesis and cognitive function in the rat fluid percussion injury model. We show that injured rats treated with NPLT performed significantly better in a hippocampus-dependent cognitive test than did sham rats. In the DG, NPLT significantly decreased TBI-dependent impaired maturation and aberrant migration of neural progenitors, while preventing TBI-induced upregulation of specific microRNAs (miRNAs) in NSC. NPLT did not significantly reduce TBI-induced microglia activation in the hippocampus. Our data strongly suggest that NPLT has the potential to be an effective therapeutic tool for the treatment of TBI-induced cognitive dysfunction and dysregulation of neurogenesis, and point to modulation of miRNAs as a possible mechanism mediating its neuroprotective effects.

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We have developed a novel, non-invasive nano-pulsed laser therapy (NPLT) system that combines the benefits of near-infrared laser light (808 nm) and ultrasound (optoacoustic) waves, which are generated with each short laser pulse within the tissue. We tested NPLT in a rat model of blast-induced neurotrauma (BINT) to determine whether transcranial application of NPLT provides neuroprotective effects. The laser pulses were applied on the intact rat head 1 h after injury using a specially developed fiber-optic system. Vestibulomotor function was assessed on post-injury days (PIDs) 1-3 on the beam balance and beam walking tasks. Cognitive function was assessed on PIDs 6-10 using a working memory Morris water maze (MWM) test. BDNF and caspase-3 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression was measured by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in laser-captured cortical neurons. Microglia activation and neuronal injury were assessed in brain sections by immunofluorescence using specific antibodies against CD68 and active caspase-3, respectively. In the vestibulomotor and cognitive (MWM) tests, NPLT-treated animals performed significantly better than the untreated blast group and similarly to sham animals. NPLT upregulated mRNA encoding BDNF and downregulated the pro-apoptotic protein caspase-3 in cortical neurons. Immunofluorescence demonstrated that NPLT inhibited microglia activation and reduced the number of cortical neurons expressing activated caspase-3. NPLT also increased expression of BDNF in the hippocampus and the number of proliferating progenitor cells in the dentate gyrus. Our data demonstrate a neuroprotective effect of NPLT and prompt further studies aimed to develop NPLT as a therapeutic intervention after traumatic brain injury (TBI).

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Optoacoustic (photoacoustic) diagnostic modality is a technique that combines high optical contrast and ultrasound spatial resolution. We proposed using the optoacoustic technique for a number of applications, including cancer detection, monitoring of thermotherapy (hyperthermia, coagulation, and freezing), monitoring of cerebral blood oxygenation in patients with traumatic brain injury, neonatal patients, fetuses during late-stage labor, central venous oxygenation monitoring, and total hemoglobin concentration monitoring as well as hematoma detection and characterization. We developed and built optical parametric oscillator-based systems and multiwavelength, fiber-coupled highly compact, laser diode-based systems for optoacoustic imaging, monitoring, and sensing. To provide sufficient output pulse energy, a specially designed fiber-optic system was built and incorporated in ultrasensitive, wideband optoacoustic probes. We performed preclinical and clinical tests of the systems and the optoacoustic probes in backward mode for most of the applications and in forward mode for the breast cancer and cerebral applications. The high pulse energy and repetition rate allowed for rapid data acquisition with high signal-to-noise ratio from cerebral blood vessels, such as the superior sagittal sinus, central veins, and peripheral veins and arteries, as well as from intracranial hematomas. The optoacoustic systems were capable of automatic, real-time, continuous measurements of blood oxygenation in these blood vessels.

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Optoacoustic (photoacoustic) technique is a novel diagnostic platform that can be used for noninvasive measurements of physiologic variables, functional imaging, and hemodynamic monitoring. This technique is based on generation and time-resolved detection of optoacoustic (thermoelastic) waves generated in tissue by short optical pulses. This provides probing of tissues and individual blood vessels with high optical contrast and ultrasound spatial resolution. Because the optoacoustic waves carry information on tissue optical and thermophysical properties, detection, and analysis of the optoacoustic waves allow for measurements of physiologic variables with high accuracy and specificity. We proposed to use the optoacoustic technique for monitoring of a number of important physiologic variables including temperature, thermal coagulation, freezing, concentration of molecular dyes, nanoparticles, oxygenation, and hemoglobin concentration. In this review we present origin of contrast and high spatial resolution in these measurements performed with optoacoustic systems developed and built by our group. We summarize data obtained in vitro, in experimental animals, and in humans on monitoring of these physiologic variables. Our data indicate that the optoacoustic technology may be used for monitoring of cerebral blood oxygenation in patients with traumatic brain injury and in neonatal patients, central venous oxygenation monitoring, total hemoglobin concentration monitoring, hematoma detection and characterization, monitoring of temperature, and coagulation and freezing boundaries during thermotherapy.

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Because of strong light absorption by metals, it is believed that plasmonic nanostructures cannot be used for generating intensive radiation harmonics in the ultraviolet (UV) spectral range. This work presents results of investigation of nonlinear optical interaction with a single gold nanostructure, the split-hole resonator (SHR) under the state-of-the-art experimentally realized conditions. To realize interaction with all spectral components of a 6 fs laser pulse several multipole plasmon resonances were simultaneously excited in the SHR nanostructure. To the best of our knowledge, this paper reports for the first time a strong nonlinear optical interaction at the frequencies of these resonances that leads to (i) the second harmonic generation, (ii) the third harmonic generation (THG), and (iii) the light generation at mixed frequencies. The THG near field amplitude reaches 0.6% of the fundamental frequency field amplitude, which enables the creation of UV radiation sources with a record high intensity. The UV THG may find many important applications including biomedical ones (such as cancer therapy).

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Surgical drainage of intracranial hematomas is often required within the first four hours after traumatic brain injury (TBI) to avoid death or severe disability. Although CT and MRI permit hematoma diagnosis, they can be used only at a major health-care facility. This delays hematoma diagnosis and therapy. We proposed to use an optoacoustic technique for rapid, noninvasive diagnosis of hematomas. In this study we developed a near-infrared OPO-based optoacoustic system for hematoma diagnosis and cerebral venous blood oxygenation monitoring in rats. A specially-designed blast device was used to inflict TBI in anesthetized rats. Optoacoustic signals were recorded from the superior sagittal sinus and hematomas that allowed for measurements of their oxygenations. These results indicate that the optoacoustic technique may be used for early diagnosis of hematomas and may provide important information for improving outcomes in patients with TBI.

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We proposed to use optical coherence tomography (OCT) for continuous noninvasive blood glucose monitoring, and recently we significantly improved the sensitivity of this technique. The accuracy of OCT glucose monitoring is limited by several factors, including variation of tissue pressure exerted by the OCT probe. We studied the influence of high (>10 kPa) and low (<1 kPa) pressure levels on OCT blood glucose monitoring. We showed that controlling external pressure to <1 kPa substantially improved the accuracy and reproducibility of OCT-based glucose monitoring.

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The goal of this study was to enhance gene delivery and tumor cell transfection in vivo by using a combination of ultrasonication with complex nanoparticles consisting of two types of nanoparticles: PEI/DNA beta-gal plasmid with highly positive zeta-potential and air-filled poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) particles (with negative zeta-potential) manufactured in our laboratory. The PLGA/PEI/DNA nanoparticles were a colloid with positive zeta-potential and injected i.v. in nude mice with DU145 human prostate tumors. We found that the combination of PLGA/PEI/DNA nanoparticles with ultrasonication substantially enhanced tumor cell transfection in vivo. The overexpression of beta-gal gene was evaluated histochemically and by Western blot analysis. At least an 8-fold increase of the cell transfection efficacy was obtained in irradiated tumors compared to non-irradiated controls, while little to no cell death was produced by ultrasonication.

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Monitoring of blood oxygenation, in particular, cerebral venous oxygenation, is necessary for management of a variety of life-threatening conditions. An optoacoustic technique can be used for noninvasive monitoring of blood oxygenation in blood vessels, including large veins. We calculated optoacoustic signals from a cylinder mimicking a blood vessel using a modified Monte Carlo code and analyzed their temporal profiles. The rate of decrease of the integrated optoacoustic signal at different wavelengths of incident near-infrared radiation was related to the effective attenuation coefficient of normally oxygenated venous blood. We obtained good correlation of this parameter with the blood effective attenuation coefficient in a wide spectral range that may be useful in providing an accurate and robust optoacoustic monitoring of blood oxygenation. We also estimated the accuracy of effective attenuation coefficient calculations.

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BACKGROUND: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been shown to be a promising optical approach to noninvasive monitoring of blood glucose concentration because of its capability of probing optical properties at different depths in tissue with high resolution. This article investigates the capability of OCT to predict changes in blood glucose concentration. METHODS: We varied blood glucose concentration in the physiological range in three sets of experiments. In the first set, we investigated large variations of blood glucose concentration ( approximately 400 mg/dl) and used 2100 OCT A scans for signal averaging. In the second set, we varied blood glucose concentration by approximately 200 mg/dl and used 8400 A scans for signal averaging. In the third set, we improved OCT blood glucose monitoring by increasing and controlling skin temperature under the OCT probe. In this set of experiments we increased the glucose concentration by approximately 300 mg/dl and used 4200 A scans for averaging. RESULTS: The predicted glucose concentrations in the first two sets were lower than actual glucose concentration by 10-20% (the mean shift), while the heating and temperature control in the third set of experiments reduced the mean shift down to 1.5%. Therefore, the mean shift was reduced substantially by tissue heating and temperature control. However, it did not depend on the number of A scans to be averaged. In contrast, the uncertainty in OCT prediction of glucose concentration (the standard deviation) did not depend on heating and temperature control, but was reduced substantially from 56 to 24 mg/dl by increasing the number of A scans from 2100 to 8400, respectively. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the accuracy of OCT-based glucose monitoring is approaching that of standard invasive and minimally invasive techniques.

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Diabetes mellitus and its complications are the third leading cause of death in the world, exceeded only by cardiovascular disease and cancer. Tighter monitoring and control of blood glucose could minimize complications associated with diabetes. Recently, optical coherence tomography (OCT) for noninvasive glucose monitoring was proposed and tested in vivo. The aim of this work was to investigate the influence of changes in blood glucose concentration ([glu]) and sodium concentration ([Na+]) on the OCT signal. We also investigated the influence of other important analytes on the sensitivity of glucose monitoring with OCT. The experiments were carried out in anesthetized female pigs. The OCT images were acquired continuously from skin, while [glu] and [Na+] were experimentally varied within their physiological ranges. Correlations of the OCT signal slope with [glu] and [Na+] were studied at different tissue depths. The tissue area probed with OCT was marked and cut for histological examination. The correlation of blood [glu] and [Na+] with the OCT signal slope was observed in separate tissue layers. On average, equimolar changes in [glu] produced 2.26 +/- 1.15 greater alterations of the OCT signal slope than changes in [Na+]. Variation of concentrations of other analytes did not influence the OCT signal slope. The influence of [Na+] on relative changes in the OCT signal slope was generally less than [glu]-induced changes. OCT is a promising method for noninvasive glucose monitoring because of its ability to track the influence of changing [glu] on individual tissue layers.

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Recently, our in vivo studies demonstrated a strong correlation between blood glucose concentration and the slope of the optical coherence tomography (OCT) signal when the probing beam was scanned over a straight line. To improve the sensitivity of OCT for blood glucose monitoring, two-dimensional (2D) lateral scanning of the OCT probing beam was proposed. Depth-dependent changes in pig skin properties with variation of blood glucose concentration were revealed due to significant suppression of speckle noise and motion artefacts in 2D scanning mode. The correlation coefficient of the OCT signal slope with blood glucose concentration varied periodically in the range from -0.9 to +0.9 depending on depth. The period of variation of the correlation coefficient was 100-150 microm that corresponded to the distance between neighbour collagen bundles. We also observed a decrease of skin thickness by 10 +/- 7.5 microm with an increase of blood glucose concentration by 277 +/- 56 mg dl(-1). Mechanisms of glucose-induced changes in skin properties owing to tissue layer shift caused by dehydration associated with the glucose osmotic effect were considered.

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The aim of this study was to analyze cell viability and expression of apoptotic-related signaling proteins in MCF-7 breast cancer cells induced by combinations of ultrasound, the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and the ultrasound contrast agent Optison. MCF-7 cells were treated with 5-FU and sonicated at the frequency of 3.0 MHz and intensity of 3.0 W/cm2 for 1 min in the presence of Optison. The cells were analyzed for lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release (a measure of cytotoxicity) and cell proliferation (by MTT assays). The LDH/MTT ratio was used for assessment of cell death. Expression of the apoptotic-related proteins, Bax and p27kip1, as well as phosphorylated forms of ERK and Akt proteins was assessed by Western blot analysis. We demonstrate that, immediately after treatment, cell death was most dependent on Optison; however, 24 h after treatment, cell death was more dependent on 5-FU. Ultrasound duty cycle increased cell death associated with either Optison or 5-FU. Furthermore, we show that treatment with 5-FU and ultrasound increased the levels of the Bax and p27kip1 proteins, but the addition of Optison appears to suppress apoptotic protein expression.

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A noninvasive, high-resolution optoacoustic technique is a promising alternative to currently used invasive methods of brain oxygenation monitoring. We present the results of our pilot clinical test of this technique in healthy volunteers. Multiwavelength optoacoustic measurements (with nanosecond optical parametric oscillator as a source of radiation) were performed on the area of the neck overlying the internal jugular vein, a deeply located large vein that drains blood from the brain and from extracranial tissues. Optoacoustic signals induced in venous blood were measured with high resolution and signal-to-noise ratio despite the presence of a thick layer of overlying tissue (up to 10 mm). The characteristic parameters of the signal at different wavelengths correlated well with the spectrum of the effective attenuation coefficient of blood.

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The optoacoustic technique is noninvasive, has high spatial resolution, and potentially can be used to measure the total hemoglobin concentration ([THb]) continuously and accurately. We performed in vitro measurements in blood and in vivo tests in healthy volunteers. Our clinical protocol included rapid infusion of intravenous saline to simulate rapid change in the [THb] during fluid therapy or surgery. Optoacoustic measurements were made from the wrist area overlying the radial artery for more than 1 h. The amplitude of the optoacoustic signal generated in the radial artery closely followed the [THb] measured directly in concurrently collected blood samples.

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BACKGROUND: Lack of efficient drug and gene delivery is one of the major problems of cancer chemo- and bio-therapy. This work is focused on optimization of ultrasound-induced delivery of model macromolecular anti-cancer drugs and DNA in human cancer cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: FITC dextrans simulated antisense oligonucleotides (10 kDa), antibodies (70 kDa), and genes (2000 kDa). Optimization of ultrasound frequency, intensity, duty cycle, time of irradiation, and concentration of Optison (ultrasound contrast agent) was performed. RESULTS: Optimal parameters provided in the MCF7 cell line 73.5+/-3.3%, 72.7+/-0.9%, and 62.7+/-2.1% delivery of 10-kDa, 70-kDa, and 2000-kDa macromolecules, respectively, 36.7+/-4.9% of cell transfection, while dead cell count was only 13.5+/-1.6%. Statistically significant drug delivery and transfection was obtained in all tested cell lines. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that optimized treatment parameters provide efficient drug and gene delivery in cancer cells and could be used for further in vivo and in vitro experiments.

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