DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS OF FLUOROPHORES FOR TRANSPARENT WHOLE LUNG ANGIOGRAPHY AND 3D-RECONSTRUCTION

Abstract

Accurately assessing the pulmonary vasculature is essential for comprehending pulmonary vascular-related diseases. This thesis focuses on a novel approach combining aggregation-induced emission hydrogel (AIENP-Gel) with tissue optical clearing (TOC) technology for high-resolution 3D vasculature imaging and quantitative analysis of whole lung and lung with metastatic tumor. The first chapter introduces the AIENP-reinforced DISCO method, enabling 3D-reconstruction of the whole lung capillaries. Chapter 2 focuses on Red-AIENPs designed for high-resolution 3D imaging of vascular structures in both healthy and metastatic lungs. Chapter 3 introduces temperature-controlled NIR-Ia-AIENPs for accurate 3D visualization and quantitative analysis of pulmonary vasculature, as well as differentiation of pulmonary arteries and veins. Chapter 4 introduces a NIR AIE ternary assembly to active/passive targeting tumor blood vessels for 3D imaging and quantitative analysis of tumor vasculature at different stages. Consequently, this thesis presents the advancements in whole tissue fluorescence imaging methods, enabling a comprehensive understanding of the pulmonary vasculature.