Multimodal Photoacoustic Imaging-Guided Regression of Corneal Neovascularization: A Non-Invasive and Safe Strategy

New corneal blood vessel formation (CNV) is one of the main factors causing blindness worldwide. However, the current drug therapy cannot achieve a non-invasive and safe inhibition of CNV. Non-invasive photoacoustic imaging (PAI) -guided methods are intended for the regression of CNV. PAI can monitor the oxygen saturation of corneal vessels by endogenous contrast of hemoglobin, and can be used as an exogenous contrast agent. A nanocomposite (R-s-ICG) based on green green (ICG) was prepared for CNV treatment by eye drops and subconjunctival injection. It turns out that R-s-ICG can rapidly enrich the corneal tissue and pathological blood vessels, while few residues remain in the normal eye tissue. Vascular changes driven by anti-CNV therapy can be assessed by in vivo real-time multimodal PAI. This treatment resulted in effective inhibition of CNV with weak damage to normal tissue.