CONTRAST AGENT FOR OPTICAL IMAGING

摘要

The invention relates to a contrast agent for optical imaging. The inventive contrast agent comprises a luminescent substance, wherein the luminescent substance comprises Tm²⁺. Furthermore, the present invention refers to the use of a Tm²⁺ containing material as a luminescent substance in a contrast agent for optical imaging. The invention also relates to a method of optical imaging of tissue, the method comprises the steps (a) contacting an effective amount of the Tm²⁺ containing contrast agent with the tissue, (b) exposing the tissue to electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range between 200 nm and 800 nm, (c) detecting any luminescence signal emitted by the tissue exposed to the electromagnetic radiation, and (d) processing the detected luminescence signal(s) into an image.