Figure 2. Ex vivo NIRF imaging of each organ.

Fluorescence image of whole organs in non-injected (top) or NP-CTX-Chitosan-Cy5.5 injected (bottom) animals. Images were acquired six hours post injection. (A) Mice were injected 200 µl of 1 mg/ml. Six hours after injection, the animals were euthanized and the organs were collected. Ex vivo fluorescence images of whole organ was obtained using the Xenogen imaging system. The spectrum gradient bar corresponds to the fluorescence intensity unit p/sec/cm²/sr. (B) Fluorescence image of 12-micron sections obtained using the Odyssey imaging system. The spectrum gradient bar corresponds to relative fluorescent level. (Top row: brain, heart, lung, liver, and kidney. Bottom row: pancreas, spleen, small intestine, colon, gonad, muscle, and bone marrow) Bone marrow is only shown with the Odyssey scanner.