Improved X-ray absorption capability of Core-shell nano-transducer in situ enhances γ-ray-excited radioluminescence imaging in vivo
Abstract
Background: Radioluminescence imaging (RLI) using nanoscintillators offers great potential for biomedical applications, yet remains constrained by low quantum efficiency and the reliance of Cerenkov imaging on high-energy radionuclides. The rational design of core-shell nano-transducers overcomes these constraints by enhancing X-ray absorption and energy confinement, thereby enabling efficient γ-ray excited radioluminescence.
Results: We engineered NaGdF₄:15%Eu@NaLuF₄ core-shell nanoparticles as a superior nano-scintillator, designed to leverage Technetium-99m (99mTc) as an ideal excitation source. The key advantage of our system lies in its ability to efficiently convert the low-energy electron emissions from 99mTc into intense radioluminescence, completely bypassing the Cerenkov threshold and thus overcoming the key limitations of Cerenkov radiation. The optimized core-shell structure exhibited a radioluminescence intensity slope (k1) of 10.9 × 104 (p/s/cm2/sr)/MBq under 99mTc excitation, representing a 110% enhancement over the core-only nanoparticles. This enhanced scintillation output was paired with a remarkable CT contrast slope (k₂) of 47.6 HU/(mg/mL), demonstrating superior X-ray absorption capability. Capitalizing on these attributes, when integrated with 99mTc-sulfur colloid, this platform enabled background-free, multimodal SPECT/CT/RLI for high-contrast sentinel lymph node mapping and precise image-guided resection in murine models, the success of which was…
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