Effects of Gold Nanorod Concentration on the Depth-Related Temperature Increase During Hyperthermic Ablation

The photothermal properties of gold nanorods (GNRs) provide an opportunity for the clinical application of highly efficient and tumor-specific photothermal therapy. For the effective hyperthermic ablation of tumor tissue using GNRs, it is essential to maintain a homogeneous therapeutic temperature in the target tissue during treatment. This study investigates whether the concentration of GNRs affects the distribution of the temperature increase during hyperthermal therapy. The investigation is conducted using polyacrylamide phantoms containing varying amounts of GNRs. In 0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 nm GNR-suspended phantoms, the change in temperature is relatively uniform along the depth of each phantom during laser irradiation at 2 W cm(-2). In 1.0, 2.0, and 5.0 nm GNR-suspended phantoms, the rates of temperature increase in the deep regions of the phantoms decrease with increasing GNR concentration. At a laser irradiation of 5 W cm(-2), the temperature of the GNR-suspended phantoms increases at a faster rate, whereas the range of GNR concentrations for maintaining the homogeneity of the temperature increase is not affected. This suggests that the concentration of GNRs is the major determinant of the depth-related temperature increase during hyperthermic ablation. Therefore, prior to the clinical application of hyperthermic ablation using GNRs, the concentration of GNRs has to be optimized to ensure a homogeneous distribution of therapeutic temperature in the targeted tissue.