Fig. 5: Pathological analysis of the embolization effectiveness of Janus particle-engineered structural lipiodol droplets, lipiodol-based emulsion, and 8spheres® beads after 14 days post-embolization.

a H&E images of the embolized right kidney. The results indicated that in the Janus particle-engineered structural lipiodol droplet group, most of the renal cortex was necrotic. In the clinical 8spheres® bead group, there were few hyperemic zones, indicating that some blood vessels were recanalized in the embolized right kidney. In the lipiodol-based emulsion group, the embolized right kidney exhibited poor efficiency and most regions remained maintained normal tissue structures. Meanwhile, we also found that few normal glomeruli remained in the 8spheres® bead group, whereas only necrotic glomeruli were observed in the Janus particle-engineered structural lipiodol droplets group. The scale bars are 1000, 100, 100, and 50 μm from left to right. b H&E images of the embolized right kidney in the Janus particle-engineered structural lipiodol droplet group. Beyond artery embolization, these Janus particle-engineered structural lipiodol droplets could be delivered to finer vasculatures, with their viscoelastic deformation profiles clearly visible. The scale bars are 300, 30, 100, and 20 μm from left to right. c The number of embolized vessels in half of the right kidney according to pathological section results. d, e Confocal microscope and scanning electron microscope images of blood vessels in the embolized right kidney. The results clearly showed a large number of Janus particles within the blood vessels, even in finer vasculatures. Scale bars: left, 50 μm and right, 5 μm (d). Scale bars: left, 30 μm and right, 1 μm (e). Experiments were performed three times (a, b, d, e), with similar results.