Over the last decade, there has been significant developments in nanotechnology, in particular for combined imaging and therapeutic applications (theranostics). The core or shell of nanoemulsions (NEs) can be loaded with various therapeutic agents, including drugs with low solubility for effective treatment, or various imaging agents for specific imaging modalities (e.g., MRI, fluorescence). In this work, perfluorohexane (PFH) NEs were synthesized for theranostic applications and were coupled to silica coated gold nanoparticles (scAuNPs) to increase the generation of PFH bubbles upon laser induced vaporization (i.e., optical droplet vaporization). The localized heat generated from the absorption properties of these nanoparticles (used to provide photoacoustic signals) can also be used to treat cancer without significantly damaging nearby healthy tissues. The theranostic potential of these PFH-NEs for contrast imaging of tumors and as a drug-delivery vehicle for therapeutic purposes were demonstrated for both in vitro and in vivo systems using a combination of photoacoustic, ultrasound and fluorescence imaging modalities. The ability of PFH-NEs to couple with scAuNPs, attach to the membranes of cancer cells and internalize within cancer cells, are encouraging for targeted chemotherapeutic applications for directly inducing cancer cell death via vaporization in clinical settings.

在过去的十年中，纳米技术取得了重大发展，特别是在组合成像和治疗应用（治疗诊断）方面。纳米乳剂(NE)的核或壳可以负载各种治疗剂，包括用于有效治疗的低溶解度药物，或用于特定成像模式(例如MRI、荧光)的各种成像剂。在这项工作中，合成了用于治疗诊断应用的全氟己烷(PFH) NE，并将其与二氧化硅涂覆的金纳米粒子(scAuNP)耦合以增加激光诱导汽化(即，光学液滴汽化)时PFH气泡的产​​生。这些纳米颗粒的吸收特性（用于提供光声信号）产生的局部热量也可用于治疗癌症，而不会显着损害附近的健康组织。使用光声、超声和荧光成像方式的组合，在体外和体内系统中证明了这些 PFH-NE 用于肿瘤对比成像和作为治疗目的的药物递送载体的治疗诊断潜力。 PFH-NE 与 scAuNP 偶联、附着在癌细胞膜上并内在癌细胞内内化的能力，对于在临床环境中通过汽化直接诱导癌细胞死亡的靶向化疗应用来说是令人鼓舞的。