Clinically translatable formulation strategies for systemic administration of nerve-specific probes

Improving precision surgery: A review of current intraoperative nerve tissue fluorescence imaging

Iatrogenic nerve injury represents one of the most feared surgical complications and remains a major morbidity across many surgical specialties. Currently, no clinically approved technique can directly enhance intraoperative nerve visualization, where intraoperative nerve identification continues to challenge even experienced surgeons. Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) has been successfully integrated into clinical medicine to improve safety and efficacy in the surgical arena. A number of tissue- and disease-specific contrast agents are in the clinical translation pipeline for future FGS integration. Within this context, a diverse repertoire of fluorescent tracers have been developed to improve surgeons' intraoperative vision. This review aims to convey the recent developments for nerve-specific FGS and its potential for clinical translation.

Nerve-Sparing Gynecologic Surgery Enabled by A Near-Infrared Nerve-Specific Fluorophore Using Existing Clinical Fluorescence Imaging Systems

Patients undergoing gynecological procedures suffer from lasting side effects due to intraoperative nerve damage. Small, delicate nerves with complex and nonuniform branching patterns in the female pelvic neuroanatomy make nerve-sparing efforts during standard gynecological procedures such as hysterectomy, cystectomy, and colorectal cancer resection difficult, and thus many patients are left with incontinence and sexual dysfunction. Herein, a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent nerve-specific contrast agent, LGW08-35, that is spectrally compatible with clinical fluorescence guided surgery (FGS) systems is formulated and characterized for rapid implementation for nerve-sparing gynecologic surgeries. The toxicology, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD) of micelle formulated LGW08-35 are examined, enabling the determination of the optimal imaging doses and time points, blood and tissue uptake parameters, and maximum tolerated dose (MTD). Application of the formulated fluorophore to imaging of female rat and swine pelvic neuroanatomy validates the continued clinical translation and use for real-time identification of important nerves such as the femoral, sciatic, lumbar, iliac, and hypogastric nerves. Further development of LGW08-35 for clinical use will unlock a valuable tool for surgeons in direct visualization of important nerves and contribute to the ongoing characterization of the female pelvic neuroanatomy to eliminate the debilitating side effects of nerve damage during gynecological procedures.

Recent advancements in peripheral nerve-specific fluorescent compounds

Nerve injury is a common complication of surgery. Accidental nerve damage or transection can lead to severe clinical symptoms including pain, numbness, paralysis and even expiratory dyspnoea. In recent years, with the rise of the field of fluorescence-guided surgery, researchers have discovered that nerve-specific fluorescent agents can serve as nerve markers in animals and can be used to guide surgical procedures and reduce the incidence of intraoperative nerve damage. Currently, researchers have begun to focus on biochemistry, materials chemistry and other fields to produce more neuro-specific fluorescent agents with physiological relevance and they are expected to have clinical applications. This review discusses the agents with potential to be used in fluorescence-guided nerve imaging during surgery.