Tumors Heat Up: New method for more effective photothermal tumor therapy with infrared light
(World News Science)

Nanorods made of bismuth sulfide kill tumor cells with heat when they are irradiated with near-infrared light (NIR). Chinese scientists are now making these weapons more powerful by remodeling the defect state of the nanorod crystal lattice by adding gold nanodots. As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, this could be a good basis for more effective photothermal treatment of tumors. In photothermal therapy, an agent is introduced into a tumor and then the region is irradiated with NIR light, a wavelength that penetrates far into tissue without causing damage. The agent absorbs the NIR light and converts it to heat. The local overheating...