Optical cavitation around gold nanorods for photoacoustic microsurgery,

Photoacoustic imaging and microsurgery have recently attracted attention as innovative approaches to manage several pathological conditions. In this context, we developed a set-up to image and destroy malignant cells by the generation and manipulation of optical vapor microbubbles. Vapor microbubbles are activated by the interaction between light and gold nanorods. Here we observe that, by the use of long-aspect ratio GNRs with plasmonic resonance centered at around 1064 nm, it becomes possible to impart lethal damage to cells at optical fluences that fall below maximum permissible exposure levels.