Enhanced photoacoustic signal of passion fruit-like nanoarchitectured in a biological environment

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is a promising noninvasive technique for molecular and cellular characterization of cancer. Cancer detection by PAI is an area of active research, and the recent advent of contrast agents based on near-infrared (NIR)-absorbing dyes or organic/inorganic nanoparticles tremendously improved the specificity and the signal contrast. Here we report the photoacoustic (PA) signal enhancement produced by biodegradable passion fruit-like nanoarchitectures in phantoms and ex vivo. By this approach, the synergistic interaction between commercial NIR-fluorophores and ultrasmall metal nanoparticles is exploited to produce a PA signal enhancement in the biological window. Moreover, the degradation of the nanoarchitectures is investigated in physiological environment as reference matrix.