Optical nano-agents in the second near-infrared window for biomedical applications
Abstract
This review summarizes the recent advances of optical nano-agents for various biomedical applications in the NIR-II window.
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Since 2009, diverse NIR-II probe materials have emerged, including carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, rare-earth-doped nanoparticles, conjugated polymers, and organic small-molecule dyes.
“Since the pioneering report of high-contrast NIR-II imaging in 2009, the field has witnessed remarkable progress, leading to the emergence of diverse probe materials, including carbon nanotubes44,45, quantum dots46–48, rare-earth-doped nanoparticles49–51, conjugated polymers52, and organic small-molecule dyes53–58.”
From Organic small-molecule NIR-II fluorophores for tumor phototheranostics (2026) · cites this paper as [53]
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“…NIR-II imaging in 2009, the fi eld has witnessed remarkable progress, leading to the emergence of diverse probe materials, including carbon nanotubes 44,45 , quantum dots 46 – 48 , rare-earth-doped nanoparticles 49 – 51 , conjugated polymers 52 , and organic small-molecule dyes 53 – 58 .”
- Authors
- Cai, Y., Wei, Z., Song, C., Tang, C., Han, W., & Dong, X.
- Affiliations
- Nanjing Tech University (CN)
- Nanjing University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Cai, Yu
- Han, Wei
- Dong, Xiaochen
- Venue
- Chemical Society Reviews
- Publisher
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
- Published
- 2019
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 22-37
- ISSN
- 0306-0012 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-4744
- OpenAlex
- W2901287979
- Cited by
- 603
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 36 · 2025: 56 · 2024: 85 · 2023: 89 · 2022: 88 · 2021: 89 · 2020: 110 · 2019: 50
- FWCI
- 5.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Chemical Society Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (61525402, 61775095)
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20180136, BK20160051)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Luminescence Properties of Advanced Materials
- Keywords
- NIR-II light, second near-infrared window, deep tissue imaging, single-walled carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, rare-earth-doped nanoparticles, inorganic nanomaterials, semiconducting polymer nanoparticles, image-guided surgery, drug delivery monitoring, biosensing, phototherapy, bioimaging
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Humans, Infrared Rays, Biomedical Research, Nanoparticles, Optical Imaging
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