Figure 3
From: Imaging of X-Ray-Excited Emissions from Quantum Dots and Biological Tissue in Whole Mouse
NIR emission from CdTe QDs injected into left striatum, liver and left kidney of nude mouse cadaver. (a) (colour) X-ray-excited NIR image recorded with our system, superimposed on (greyscale) ambient-light image. (b) optically-excited (500–550 nm) NIR image of QD distribution recorded with industry–standard bioluminescence and fluorescence detection system. The similarities between the two images validate that our X-ray-excited nanoparticle imaging technique is capable of exciting detectable NIR emission from deeply-embedded QDs. (c) Signal profile along the 26 row ROI shown (yellow) in (a). (d) Schematic of different geometries for imaging with our X-ray-excited nanoparticle imaging technique (XENI) and standard bioluminescence and fluorescence (“biolum.”) imaging. As currently configured, the X-ray beam enters at 90° to the imaging direction, whereas standard bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging has both the excitation illumination and CCD directly above the sample. The X-ray excited QD detection of the liver is achieved despite the thickness of tissue the X-rays must first pass through, whereas the bioluminescence and fluorescence geometry is optimised for more superficial fluorescence near the upper surface.
