Silver telluride nanoparticles as biocompatible and enhanced contrast agents for X-ray imaging: an in vivo breast cancer screening study

Abstract

Silver sulfide nanoparticles (Ag₂S NPs) have gained considerable interest in the biomedical field due to their photothermal ablation enhancement, near-infrared fluorescence properties, low toxicity levels, and multi-imaging capabilities. Silver telluride nanoparticles (Ag₂Te NPs) have similar properties to Ag₂S NPs, should also be stable due to an extremely low solubility product and should generate greater X-ray contrast since tellurium is significantly more attenuating than sulfur at diagnostic X-ray energies. Despite these attractive properties, Ag₂Te NPs have only been studied in vivo once and at a low dose (2 mg Ag per kg). Herein, for the first time, Ag₂Te NPs’ properties and their application in the biomedical field were studied in vivo in the setting requiring the highest nanoparticle doses of all biomedical applications, i.e. X-ray imaging. Ag₂Te NPs were shown to be stable, biocompatible (no acute toxicity observed in the cell lines studied or in vivo), and generated higher contrast, compared to controls, in the two X-ray imaging techniques studied: computed tomography (CT) and dual-energy mammography (DEM). In summary, this is the first study where Ag₂Te NPs were explored in vivo at a high dose. Our findings suggest that Ag₂Te NPs provide strong X-ray contrast while exhibiting excellent biocompatibility. These results highlight the potential use of Ag₂Te NPs in the biomedical field and as X-ray contrast agents for breast cancer screening.