Assessment of transcutaneous vaccine delivery by optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Immunization is one of the most efficient and costeffective means for the prevention of diseases. The latest trend for inducing protective immunity is topical application of vaccines to intact skin rather than invasive administration via injection. Apart from being a non-invasive route of drug delivery, skin itself also offers advantages through the presence of cells of the immune system in both the dermis and epidermis. However, vaccine penetration through the outermost layers of skin is limited by the barrier provided by the Stratum corneum.In the current study utilizing conventional Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) we investigate the transcutaneous delivery of a nano-particulate peptide vaccine into mouse skin in vivo. We demonstrate that a front of molecular diffusion within the skin can be clearly observed by using cross-correlations of successive 2D OCT images. Thus, OCT provides a unique tool for quantitative assessment of dynamics of diffusion of drugs, target compounds, analytes, cosmetics and various chemical agents in biological tissues in vivo.Typical 3D image of mouse skin (5×5×1 mm 3 ) obtained in vivo by conventional OCT c

Imaging of subchondral bone by optical coherence tomography upon optical clearing of articular cartilage

“…such as Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), have been received considerable attention among other diagnostic modalities. Nowadays, OCT is extensively used in a number of applications , including visualization of spatial distribution of subcutaneous blood vessels in human skin , visualization of molecular diffusion within the biological tissues , electro‐kinetic response of biological tissues ex vivo and others. Polarization‐sensitive OCT enables detection of birefringent properties of human tissues and has been successfully used for characterization of Achilles ruptured tendons and cartilage tissue .…”

Allocation of rhodamine-loaded nanocapsules from blood circulatory system to adjacent tissues assessedin vivoby fluorescence spectroscopy

“…To obtain reliable information in vivo, various optical methods have been developed and successfully used in various medical applications in the past [3,4]. Optical coherence tomography has been effectively utilized to assess the efficiency of percutaneous vaccine delivery [5,6]. Intravital microscopy has been used for the noninvasive continuous monitoring of blood flow [7,8] and drug transfer in the body [9].…”

Noninvasive control of rhodamine-loaded capsules distribution in vivo

“…2 For example, previously optical coherence tomography (OCT) was effectively used to assess the effectiveness of delivery of a percutaneous vaccine. 3,4 Intravital microscopy (IVM) was used for the non-invasive continuous monitoring of drug movement in the body 5 as well as the photoacoustic (PA) imaging has been successfully applied to visualize the transport and accumulation of substances in the organ or tumour tissue. 6,7 The laser-induced fluorescence techniques also can be assigned to the group of methods.…”