Medical imaging breakthrough uses light and sound to see microscopic details inside our bodies

Medical imaging breakthrough uses light and sound to see microscopic details inside our bodies:  they combined photoacoustic tomography (PAT) with gold nanobeacons (GNB) to achieve an unprecedented level of imaging detail. Specifically, the researchers were able to identify the first signs of new blood vessel growth, which is necessary for new tumors to form. Specifically, not only were the newest blood vessels with initial blood flow imaged, but pre-vessel formation of inter-vessel bridges and vessel off-shoot sprouts in which blood flow had yet to begin also were captured. This is the first time that the angiogenic process was imaged in such clear detail without a microscope.