Abstract

Combining High Efficiency Darkfield Illumination and Hyperspectral Imaging to Map Delivery of Nano-Scale Therapeutic Agents in Complex Cell Structures

Samuel M Lawrence, CEO, Cytoviva Inc

Modern drug delivery strategies now envision the use of nano-sized particles that enter the cell with therapeutic interventions.  This has in turn driven the quest for tools which can aid in the study of the pharmacokinetics of therapies delivered through emerging modalities.  Imaging techniques which can augment purely qualitative data (i.e. “pictures”) with a quantitative underpinning are needed to help researchers gain better insight into the efficacy of new delivery techniques.  The combination of high resolution microscope imaging with spectrophotometry offers a viable solution to this need.  By combining these two technologies it is possible to capture the optical spectrum of sub-micron sized materials both on and within targeted cells.  This information can in turn be used to map their distribution and determine their microenvironment within cell space.  These data can therefore provide the researcher with invaluable insight into both the efficacy of the subject delivery modality as well as the pharmacokinetics of the subject therapy. 

This talk will provide an overview of the technologies used to create these data sets as well as offer examples of various relevant applications.  Emphasis will be placed on the creation of optical images using Enhanced Darkfield illumination and the analysis of these images with state-of-the-art hyperspectral imaging hardware and software.  Several examples of data sets created with this approach will be discussed as well.