Researchers from the City College of New York have developed an aid for optical imaging that improves cancer detection in the form of a molecular gel derived from the horse chestnut plant.
The radiation-responsive gel includes esculin, a molecule that naturally occurs in the plant. The gel is both scintillating and fluorescent, enhancing the optical photon output in image mapping for cancer imaging, according to a team led by George John, PhD.
Optical imaging of radiotracers through Cherenkov radiation (i.e., electromagnetic radiation that is emitted when a charged particle -- such as an electron -- passes through a medium at a speed greater than the velocity of light in that medium) can produce low-intensity, blue-weighted light that is scattered and absorbed in vivo, thus negatively affecting the quality of the optical image. The gel addresses this problem, said research collaborator Jan Grimm, PhD, in a statement released by the college.
Molecules derived from horse chestnuts aid cancer imaging. Image courtesy of City College of New York."The possibility of developing a topical application from the gel makes this innovation an attractive potential improvement to current techniques of cancer imaging with Cherenkov light," Grimm said.
