Deep photothermal effect induced by stereotactic laser beams in highly scattering media

Opt Lett. 2021 Sep 1;46(17):4248-4251. doi: 10.1364/OL.433429.

Abstract

Plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT), as an increasingly studied treatment alternative, has been widely regarded mostly as a surface tissue treatment choice. Although some techniques have been implemented for interstitial tumors, these involve some grade of invasiveness, as the outer skin is usually broken to introduce light-delivering optical fibers or even catheters. In this work, we present a potential non-invasive strategy using the stereotactic approach, long employed in radiosurgery, by converging multiple near infrared laser beams for PPTT in tissue-equivalent optical phantoms that enclose small gel spheres and simulate interstitial tissue impregnated with plasmonic nanoparticles. The real-time in-depth monitoring of temperature increase is realized by an infrared camera face-on mounted over the phantom. Our results show that a significant reduction in the surface heating can be achieved with this configuration while remarkably increasing the interstitial reach of PPTT, assuring a ∼6C temperature increase for the simulated tumors at 10 mm depth and ∼4C at 15 mm depth and opening up new possibilities for future clinical applications.

MeSH terms

  • Gold
  • Humans
  • Lasers
  • Nanoparticles*
  • Neoplasms*
  • Phantoms, Imaging

Substances

  • Gold