We review how the hyperspectral dark field analysis gives us quantitative insights into the manner that different nanoscale materials interact with their environment and how this relationship is directly expressed in an optical readout. We engage classification tools to identify dominant spectral signatures within a scene or to qualitatively characterize nanoparticles individually or in populations based on their composition and morphology. Moreover, we follow up the morphological evolution of nanoparticles over time and in different biological environments to better understand and establish a link between the observed nanoparticles’ changes and cellular behaviors.

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Hyperspectral-enhanced dark field microscopy to correlate Au/CuS NPs’ changes in their physicochemical properties induced by cellular environments with their functionality as photothermal probes by tracking their scattering profile evolution in real time.

The unique combination of physical and optical properties of silica (core)/gold (shell) nanoparticles (gold nanoshells) makes them especially suitable for biomedicine. Gold Nanoshells have been used from high-resolution in vivo imaging to in vivo photothermal tumor treatment. Furthermore, the reduced size and large scattering cross section of Gold Nanoshells in the second biological window (1000-1700 nm) make them also especially adequate for molecular optical coherence tomography (OCT). In this work, we demonstrate how, after adequate functionalization, gold nanoshells in combination with clinical OCT systems are capable of imaging damage in the myocardium after an infarct. Since both inflammation and apoptosis are two of the main mechanisms underlying myocardial damage after ischemia, such damage imaging is achieved by endowing Gold Nanoshells with selective affinity for the inflammatory marker Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 (ICAM-1), and the apoptotic marker phosphatidylserine (PS). The results here presented constitute a first step towards a fast, safe, and accurate diagnosis of damaged tissue within infarcted hearts at the molecular level by means of the highly sensitive OCT interferometric technique.