The study of bioimaging with controlled depth using upconversion nanoparticles under near-infrared excitation was performed in this work. Monte Carlo simulation was performed to determine optimal distance between the fiber - source of laser radiation, and the receiving fiber for obtaining the signal from maximal depth in biological tissue. Also theoretical modeling of the spatial distribution of diffusely scattered radiation inside the tissue depending on wavelength is presented. Penetration depth for wavelengths corresponding to the upconversion luminescence was calculated.

Experimental modeling was carried out on phantoms of biological tissues simulating their scattering properties as well as accumulation of the investigated nanoparticles doped with rare earth ions. Measurements were performed using NaGdF₄ nanoparticles doped with Yb³⁺, Er³⁺ and Tm³⁺ rare earth ions, which demonstrated several luminescence bands from the blue (475nm) to the near-infrared (800 nm) regions of the spectrum under 980 nm excitation. The different penetration depth of various wavelengths in biotissue allows us to estimate the depth from which the signal was obtained using luminescence intensity ratio (LIR). Due to non-linearity of upconversion process, pumping power dependences of luminescence intensity was taken into account. The number of involved photons for each spectral band was estimated and intensity ratio of emission bands was calculated. Based on calculations and experimental measurements, the theoretical and experimental luminescence intensity ratio for different depths was estimated. The experimental study was performed on biological tissue phantoms containing Lipofundin® with red blood cells and has shown good agreement with calculations. The use of theoretically calculated LIR allows us to solve the inverse problem and estimate the depth from which the signal was obtained.

Date Published: 24 May 2018
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 10677, Unconventional Optical Imaging, 106770O (24 May 2018); doi: 10.1117/12.2309780

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10677:
Unconventional Optical Imaging
Corinne Fournier; Marc P. Georges; Gabriel Popescu, Editor(s)