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Detection ofUnlabeled Polystyrene Micro- and Nanoplasticsin Mammalian Tissue by Optical Photothermal Infrared Spectroscopy

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Kristina Duswald (15945294), Verena Pichler (1936114), Verena Kopatz (21957755), Tanja Limberger (12324233), Verena Karl (21957758), David Hennerbichler (21957761), Robert Zimmerleiter (15945291), Wolfgang Wadsak (625715), Mike Hettich (5833130), Elisabeth S. Gruber (6667910), Lukas Kenner (46891), Markus Brandstetter (1352436)

Summary

Researchers evaluated optical photothermal infrared (O-PTIR) spectroscopy for detecting unlabeled polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics down to 200 nm in mammalian kidney tissues and 3D cell cultures. O-PTIR outperformed conventional FTIR in spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio, and machine learning accelerated particle detection with minimal human error.

Polymers
Body Systems
Models
Study Type In vivo

In this study, we investigate the efficacy of optical photothermal infrared (O-PTIR) spectroscopy, also known as mid-infrared photothermal (MIP) microscopy, for label-free and nondestructive detection of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) down to diameters of 200 nm in mammalian tissues. Experiments with both in vitro three-dimensional cell cultures derived from HTC116 colorectal cancer cell line and in vivo mouse tissue models were conducted. Spherical polystyrene particles served as reliable model systems for evaluating spatial resolution limits and quality of spectra. Our findings demonstrate the superior resolution of O-PTIR in imaging individual particles of 200 nm in mouse kidney tissues, surpassing the capabilities of traditional Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Furthermore, we apply a semiautomated image analysis that incorporates machine learning algorithms to accelerate the detection process, thus improving throughput and minimizing the potential for human error. The results confirm that O-PTIR is able to provide high-quality, artifact-free spectral images in a contact-less manner and significantly outperforms traditional infrared spectroscopy in terms of spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio in complex biological matrices.

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