Wide-field hyperspectral 3D imaging of functionalized gold nanoparticles targeting cancer cells by reflected light microscopy.

We present a new hyperspectral reflected light microscopy system with a scanned broadband supercontinuum light source. This wide-field and low phototoxic hyperspectral imaging system has been successful for performing spectral three-dimensional (3D) localization and spectroscopic identification of CD44-targeted PEGylated AuNPs in fixed cell preparations. Such spatial and spectral information is essential for the improvement of nanoplasmonic-based imaging, disease detection and treatment in complex biological environment. The presented system can be used for real-time 3D NP tracking as spectral sensors, thus providing new avenues in the spatio-temporal characterization and detection of bioanalytes. 3D image of the distribution of functionalized AuNPs attached to CD44-expressing MDA-MB-231 human cancer cells.