摘要 |
An apparatus and method of characterizing cells having surface markers includes the use of functionalized probes, the probes having absorption spectra characteristic of a probe geometry. The probes are functionalized with biomolecules (biomarkers) capable of binding to the surface markers, and cells having a particular combination of probes having specific bound biomarkers are measured using a spectrum analyzer. A plurality of surface markers may be simultaneously measured using the spectral properties of the probes to differentiate the cells. The relative abundance of a plurality of surface markers may be determined simultaneously. Functionalized probes with several different aspect ratios were used in an experiment to demonstrate the use of functionalized probes for characterizing cancer cells. The functionalized gold nanorod probes when attached to magnetic particles may be used as a dual contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and optical imaging and as a targeted drug delivery system.
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