Abstract

This lecture will review the combination of photonic and acoustic tools and nano- and microstructured materials that can be used for visualization of pathological tissue and organs, navigation of drug delivery carriers and remote-controlled release of encapsulated bioactive substances, and last but not least, the application of optical sensors for early diagnosis and evaluation treatment efficiency. There are many biological objects that can be used as markers of various pathological states including cancer. These comprise, but are not limited to, proteins, exosomes, and circulation tumor cells. Exosomes are a very promising marker for early cancer diagnosis and even for evaluating treatment efficiency. An exosome is a small vesical at 100 nm size produced by a cell. The exosomes can be sent by both normal and pathological cells. It can be used for early diagnosis of neuro, cardio, and onco-diseases. The combination of photonic integrated circuits (PIC), microfluidic devices (MF) and a surface modification improves not only the sensitivity but also the specificity of exosomes’ detection [1].

The application of photonic and acoustic tools can be used for visualization, navigation of multifunctional carriers and remote-controlled release of bioactive substances. These particles will combine the ability to deploy drugs in a controllable manner with physical triggering, multimodal detection, and visualization as well as sensing of important biological markers. It is required to apply a new bottom-up method as layer by layer assembly [2] and freezing induced loading [3] and their combination [4]. It can allow us to vary the volume fraction of components and their chemical composition, enabling the control of the optical and thermal properties of multifunctional carriers [5]. Raman spectroscopy is a perspective method for in situ monitoring of freezing induced loading method [6]. Physical targeting of carriers was realized by the magnetic field gradient [4] and optical tweezers approach [7]. Acoustics has a good perspective for the same purpose. The carrier sensitivity to external influences such as laser irradiation and ultrasound (US) treatment can be changed by variation of volume fraction and chemical composition of inorganic nanoparticles and/or organic dyes in the carrier shells. The same approach is applied for drug delivery carriers imaging by MRI, fluorescence imaging (FI), USI and optoacoustics (OA) [4,8]. Additionally, there are some trends of modern biophotonics: 1) combination of OA, US and FI[9]; 2) transfer to mid-IR [10]; 3) preparation of multimodal contrast agents, that can be provided the contrast by some clinical methods including OA, FI, MRI, USI etc. [8]; 4) using minimally invasive OA [11,12] by developing PIC based US transducers [13] using biomimetic approach for preparation a sensitive part (membrane) of such type of sensors [14,15]; 5) using optical clearing approach [16]. In the lecture we will also present the results of in vivo optoacoustic applications and, besides, both optoacoustic mesoscopy and tomography. Particular attention will be devoted to the implementation of near and mid-IR for OA microscopy and endoscopy and the prospects for its application for in vitro and in vivo studies, for example, for the analysis of histological sections, as well as for determining the type of atherosclerotic plaques, respectively. Thus, the combination of photonic and acoustic tools with nanostructured materials has a good perspective for application in biology and medicine.

Biophotonics Lab’s coworkers elaborate new approaches combining visualization, diagnostics, and therapy (theranostics) using the synergy of recent achievements of photonics, acoustics and material science for biomedical applications, and to bridge a gap between biophotonic research and clinical applications together with academic and industrial partners. The research scope embraces three areas: 1) development of imaging and monitoring methods (multimodal contrast agents, multispectral imaging, optoacoustics, ecological monitoring using photonics tools); 2) development of sensor devices for the analysis of gases and liquids, including sensors for the so-called liquid biopsy, as well as sensor devices for endoscopic applications; 3) elaboration of the nanozymes-based theranostics and development of the drug delivery systems that can visualize targeted delivery, as well as remote release and activation of the encapsulated drugs, for example by focused ultrasound. (Find more at http://biophotonicsskoltech.ru/).

References

[1] A. Kuzin et al, Applied Physics Letters, 2023, 123, 193702.

[2] M.V. Novoselova et al, J. Biophotonics, 12 (4), 2019, e201800265

[3] S.V. German et al, Scientific Reports, 8, 2018, 17763

[4] M.V. Novoselova et al, Colloids and Surfaces B, 2021, 111576

[5] R. E. Noskov et al, Adv. Mater. 2021, 2008484

[6] S.V. German et al, Langmuir, 2021, 37,4, 1365

[7] E.S. Vavaev et al, ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2022 5 (2), 2994-3006

[8] E.A. Maksimova et al, Laser & Photonics Reviews, 2023, 2300137

[9] M.D. Mokrousov et al, Biomedical Optics Express, 12(6), 2021, 3181

[10] M.A. Pleitez et al, Nat. Biotechnol., 38(3), 2020, 293

[11] H. Guo et al, J. Biophotonics, 13(12), 2020, 1–20

[12] N. Kaydanov et al, ACS Photonics, 8, 11, 2021, 3346–3356

[13] W. J. Westerveld et al, Nature Photonics, 15, 2021, 341

[14] J. Cvjetinovic et al. Scientific Reports, 13, 2023, 5518

[15] J. Cvjetinovic et al, Applied Physics Letters, 2023, 123 (18), 184101

[16] M.V. Novoselova et al, Photoacoustics, 2020, 100186

Bio:

Dmitry Gorin is a Professor at the Center of Photonic Science and Engineering at Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology. Dmitry Gorin received his Diploma of Engineer-Physicist in 1997 and CSc and DSc degrees in Physical Chemistry in 2001 and 2011, respectively, from Saratov State University. From 2005 to 2009, he visited the Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (the group of Dr. G.B. Sukhorukov), before becoming a postdoc there from 2009 to 2010 in the group of Prof. Dr. H. Moehwald. He was then appointed professor at the Department of Nano- and Biomedical Technologies at Saratov State University from 2011 till 2017, after which he joined Skoltech as a Full Professor. He was the scientific supervisor and co-supervisor of 11 CSc and PhD theses, as well as a scientific consultant of 2 DSc theses. His research interests are biophysics, biophotonics, and physics of colloids and interfaces. As a visiting scientist, he collaborated with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (Little Rock), Charité University Hospital (Berlin), Queen Mary University of London, Ankara and Ghent Universities, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Bilkent University.