Molecular imaging by means of multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT)

Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography (MSOT) is expected to play a major role in biomedical research and drug discovery applications because it brings a new standard of performance in small animal imaging and can lead to significant niche clinical applications, such as endoscopic applications. Pulses of different wavelengths are used, in a time-shared fashion, whereas the wavelengths are selected to sample a spectral characteristic in the absorption spectrum of the reporter agent of interest. MSOT can play an increasingly important role through phase 0-III clinical trials by offering a method that can yield quantitative markers of treatment while it is not limited by application repetition due to cost or the use of ionizing radiation, within the application areas of the technique, as defined by its penetration ability. Molecules or nanoparticles with steep absorption changes are optimal for MSOT imaging, since they can then be resolved by scanning narrow spectral bands.