NIR-II and visible fluorescence hybrid imaging-guided surgery via aggregation-induced emission fluorophores cocktails

Fluorescence imaging-guided surgery is one of important techniques to realize precision surgery. Although second near-infrared window (NIR-II) fluorescence imaging has the advantages of high resolution and large penetration depth in surgical navigation, its major drawback is that NIR-II images cannot be detected by our naked eyes, which demands a high hand-eye coordination for surgeons and increases the surgical difficulty. On the contrary, visible fluorescence can be observed by our naked eyes but has poor penetration. Here, we firstly propose a kind of NIR-II and visible fluorescence hybrid navigation surgery assisted via a cocktail of aggregation-induced emission nanoparticles (AIE NPs). NIR-II imaging helps to locate deep targeted tissues and judge the residual, and visible fluorescence offers an easily surgical navigation. We apply this hybrid navigation mode in different animals and systems, and verify that it can accelerate surgical process and compatible with a visible fluorescence endoscopy. To deepen the understanding of lymph node (LN) labelling, the distribution of NPs in LNs after local administration is initially analyzed by NIR-II fluorescence wide-filed microscopy, and two fates of the NPs are summarized. An alternative strategy which combines indocyanine green and berberine is also reported as a compromise for rapidly clinical translation.