FURI | Spring 2020

Quantification of Tissue Oxygenation to Improve Encapsulated Cell Viability In Vivo

The long-term goal of this research is to transplant encapsulated beta cells into a diabetic recipient and eliminate insulin injections. Beta cells succumb easily to hypoxic environments. To test oxygen levels non-invasively, we are using oxygen-sensitive nanoprobes that give off a readable signal detected by using H-MRI. The thrust of the research so far has been to test the feasibility of encapsulating a nanoprobe emulsion in a hydrogel. The research team tested various nanoprobe emulsion concentrations for retention within the encapsulation hydrogel, and verified that this nanoprobe formulation is plausible to use in hydrogels.