CHAPTER 9. Near Infrared Nanomaterials for Photothermal Therapy

Abstract

Near infrared (NIR) laser-induced photothermal ablation therapy (PAT) has attracted increasing interest as a minimally invasive and potentially more effective treatment technology for cancer. A prerequisite for the development of NIR laser-induced PAT is to obtain low-cost and biocompatible photothermal agents with high photothermal conversion efficiency. Currently, four types of photothermal agents have been chiefly developed, including organic compound, metal, carbon, and semiconductor-based photothermal agents. In this chapter, we first introduce the measurement method for photothermal conversion efficiency, and then summarize the research progress of these photothermal agents as well as the combination of PAT with other nanobiotechnology methods. This chapter ends with a summary and some perspectives on the challenges and new directions in the exciting field of PAT.