Ultrasound-enhanced chemiluminescence tomography in biological tissue

This paper reports ultrasound-assisted optical imaging of chemiluminescent probes in biological tissue. A focused low power ultrasound sonochemically enhances a peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence (CL) that involves indocyanine green (ICG) as luminescent pigments. By scanning the focus, it produces tomographic images of CL in scattering media. The authors demonstrate imaging using a slab of porcine muscle measuring 50 × 50 × 75 mm, in which a capsuled CL reagent is embedded at 25 mm depth. Spatial resolution of imaging and concentration characteristics of CL reagents to enhanced CL intensity are also studied to evaluate the potential for use in bio-imaging applications with exploring the CL enhancement mechanisms. CL enhancement ratio, defined as the ratio of ultrasonically enhanced CL intensity to the base intensity without ultrasound irradiation, was found to be constant even in varying ICG and oxidizer concentrations, implying to be applicable for quantitative determination of these molecules.