Abstract
SIGNIFICANCE: Paired-agent fluorescent molecular imaging approaches involve co-administration of a control (untargeted) imaging agent with a molecularly targeted agent to account for non-specific effects and quantify binding potential (BP)-a parameter proportional to the concentration of the targeted biomolecule. Accurate BP estimation often requires correction for differences in targeted and control agent plasma input functions (PIFs). AIM: We provide a simulation-based evaluation of whether dual-channel pulse dye densitometry (PDD) can be used to measure the PIFs of co-administered targeted and control imaging agents, to enable accurate BP estimation. APPROACH: Monte-Carlo simulations of light propagation were carried out using the anatomy and optical properties of a finger, as well as experimentally measured PIFs of co-administered anti-epidermal growth factor receptor fluorescent affibody, ABY-029, and IRDye 680LT, a control imaging agent from past mouse experiments. The accuracy of PIF shape estimation from PDD and PIF difference correction was evaluated by assessing BP estimation accuracy in a simulated "tumor" tissue. RESULTS: "Tumor" BP measurements using deconvolution correction with noise-free PIFs versus PDD-measured PIFs were compared. The relative error in PDD PIF deconvolution BP estimation was 2 ± 1% . No statistical difference was found between the estimated BP via deconvolution correction with true PIFs and the estimated BP via the reconstructed PIFs using the proposed PAF-PDD methodology. CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight the potential for developing a PDD instrument that can directly measure targeted and control agent PIFs and be used to correct for any PIF differences between agents for more quantitative estimates of BP in paired-agent imaging studies.