X-ray fluorescence imaging
In-vivo molecular imaging of nanoparticles with X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT)
Recent advancements in nanotechnology have led to wide applications of nanomaterials in a number of areas, including materials science, energy, and medicine. Among the metallic nanoparticles, gold (Au) can be used to treat tumors or rheumatoid arthritis and may be able to serve as carriers for drug and gene delivery. Especially for the purpose of x-ray imaging, nanoparticles offer advantages over conventional contrast agents (e.g. iodine), such as higher photoelectric interaction probability and more favorable biochemical properties (e.g. slower clearance and more specific tumor targeting).
Fig. 1: Principle of X-ray fluorescence emission
In our work we challenge the problem that CT based on conventional x-ray absorption imaging, however, lacks functional information on the molecular level. Therefore it is quite interesting to develop new high-resolution techniques for functional CT.
One promising approach is to use functionalized gold nanoparticles conjugated to bio-molecules for which it has already been shown that specific tumor imaging can, at least in principle, be achieved using conventional CT, although at a concentration and radiation dose far too high for clinical imaging.
Our approach on the other hand is based on the detection of x-ray fluorescence emission of these functionalized gold nanoparticles. This enables the detection of a concentration of the gold nanoparticle based tracer down to the nanomolar range.
(We offer topics for bachelor and master thesis projects for students of various engineering disciplines (e.g. biosystems engineering, molecular biosystems, medical systems engineering, engineering cybernetics etc.). If you are interested, please contact us by e-mail and provide the following information: short CV, transcript of academic records, areas of interest and desired starting date.)
