A Near-Infrared Fluorescence-Based Optical Thermosensor

Abstract

A study was conducted to demonstrate the development of a fluorescent polymeric thermosensor, exhibiting selective near-infrared (NIR) emission throughout a broad range of temperatures based on the fluorescent signal activation method. The NIR fluorescent thermosensor had the advantage to be applied in biological and medical field, as it was possible to image tissues at different resolutions and depth penetrations in minimizing tissue autofluorescence in NIR region. The thermosensor was designed using a combination of thermo-responsive polymer and an NIR dye, Pluronic F127, and Cy5.5. It was demonstrated that it was possible to synthesize a thermosensor for monitoring specific temperature range by using proper block copolymers. It was also demonstrated that the sensitive quenching properties of polymeric sensors allowed to monitor temperature changes by observing changes in NIR emission intensity and by visualized fluorescent images.