Assessment and Modeling of Plasmonic Photothermal Therapy Delivered via a Fiberoptic Microneedle Device Ex Vivo

• Published in: Pharmaceutics Vol. 13; no. 12; p. 2133
• Main Authors: Akhter, Forhad, Manrique-Bedoya, Santiago, Moreau, Chris, Smith, Andrea Lynn, Feng, Yusheng, Mayer, Kathryn M, Hood, R Lyle
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 10.12.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Ablation; Cancer therapies; COMSOL tissue model; fiberoptic microneedle; Gold; gold nanorods; Laboratories; Lasers; Light; Nanoparticles; near infrared; Optical properties; Pancreatic cancer; Pancreatitis; photothermal; plasmonic photothermal therapy; near infrared; hyperthermia; bioheat; photothermal; COMSOL tissue model; fiberoptic microneedle; gold nanorods; plasmonic photothermal therapy
• ISSN: 1999-4923; 1999-4923
• DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13122133

Plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT) has potential as a superior treatment method for pancreatic cancer, a disease with high mortality partially attributable to the currently non-selective treatment options. PPTT utilizes gold nanoparticles infused into a targeted tissue volume and exposed to a specific light wavelength to induce selective hyperthermia. The current study focuses on developing this approach within an ex vivo porcine pancreas model via an innovative fiberoptic microneedle device (FMD) for co-delivering light and gold nanoparticles. The effects of laser wavelengths (808 vs. 1064 nm), irradiances (20-50 mW·mm ), and gold nanorod (GNR) concentrations (0.1-3 nM) on tissue temperature profiles were evaluated to assess and control hyperthermic generation. The GNRs had a peak absorbance at ~800 nm. Results showed that, at 808 nm, photon absorption and subsequent heat generation within tissue without GNRs was 65% less than 1064 nm. The combination of GNRs and 808 nm resulted in a 200% higher temperature rise than the 1064 nm under similar conditions. A computational model was developed to predict the temperature shift and was validated against experimental results with a deviation of <5%. These results show promise for both a predictive model and spatially selective, tunable treatment modality for pancreatic cancer.