Heat generated from plasmonic nanoparticles can be utilized in plasmonic photothermal therapy. A combination of near-infrared laser and plasmonic nanoparticles is compelling for the treatment of brain cancer, due to the efficient light-to-heat conversion and bio-compatibility. However, one of the challenges of plasmonic photothermal therapy is to minimize the damage of the surrounding brain tissue. The adjacent tissue can be damaged as a result of either absorption of laser light, thermal conductivity, nanoparticles diffusing from the tumor, or a combination hereof. Hence, we still lack the full understanding of the light–tissue interaction and, in particular, the thermal response. We tested the temperature change in three different porcine cerebral tissues, i.e., the stem, the cerebrum, and the cerebellum, under laser treatment. We find that the different tissues have differential optical and thermal properties and confirm the enhancement of heating from adding plasmonic nanoparticles. Furthermore, we measure the loss of laser intensity through the different cerebral tissues and stress the importance of correct analysis of the local environment of a brain tumor. Our results stress the conclusion that a personalized analysis of the local environment is needed to balance the effect and side effects prior to plasmonic photothermal therapy.

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等离子光热疗法在脑组织中的作用和副作用

从等离子体纳米颗粒产生的热量可用于等离子体光热疗法。由于有效的光热转换和生物相容性，近红外激光和等离子纳米粒子的组合对于治疗脑癌具有吸引力。然而，等离子光热疗法的挑战之一是最小化周围脑组织的损伤。相邻的组织可能由于吸收激光，导热性，从肿瘤扩散的纳米颗粒或其组合而受损。因此，我们仍然对光-组织相互作用，尤其是热响应缺乏全面的了解。我们在激光治疗下测试了三种不同的猪脑组织，即茎，大脑和小脑的温度变化。我们发现不同的组织具有不同的光学和热学性质，并证实通过添加等离激元纳米粒子可以增强热量。此外，我们测量了通过不同大脑组织的激光强度损失，并强调了正确分析大脑肿瘤局部环境的重要性。我们的结果强调了这样的结论，即需要等离子光热疗法之前，需要对本地环境进行个性化分析，以平衡效果和副作用。