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Screening and quantification of the tumor microenvironment with micro-ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging

Nature Methods volume 12, pages iii–v (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The family of Vevo® Imaging Systems from FUJIFILM VisualSonics, Inc. is leading to translational breakthroughs in the understanding of cancer progression and therapy. More specifically, high-frequency ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging of orthotopic and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of human cancer have empowered researchers in the past decade, with key translational findings on tumor growth and microenvironment and in response to new and existing cancer therapies. This Application Note focuses on the deep-tissue-imaging capabilities of micro-ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging that contributed to these translational findings.

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Figure 1: 2D and 3D ultrasound images of prepalpable pancreas tumors 15 d after implantation into a mouse pancreas.
Figure 2: Images of tumor microenvironment obtained with contrast-enhanced ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging.
Figure 3: What do the photoacoustic data of a taggable contrast agent look like? (a) A subcutaneous tumor positive for fluorescent signal from a nanoparticle.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Drs. I. Lohse and D. Hedley for their kind gift of orthotopic models of pancreas cancer.

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  1. FUJIFILM VisualSonics, Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Minalini Lakshman & Andrew Needles

Authors
  1. Minalini Lakshman
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  2. Andrew Needles
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Correspondence to Minalini Lakshman or Andrew Needles.

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Lakshman, M., Needles, A. Screening and quantification of the tumor microenvironment with micro-ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging. Nat Methods 12, iii–v (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.f.381

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