A pure nanoICG-based homogeneous lipiodol formulation: toward precise surgical navigation of primary liver cancer after long-term transcatheter arterial embolization

Purpose To surmount the critical issues of indocyanine green (ICG), and thus achieving a precise surgical navigation of primary liver cancer after long-term transcatheter arterial embolization. Methods In this study, a facile and green pure-nanomedicine formulation technology is developed to construct carrier-free indocyanine green nanoparticles (nanoICG), and which subsequently dispersed into lipiodol via a super-stable homogeneous lipiodol formulation technology (SHIFT nanoICG) for transcatheter arterial embolization combined near-infrared fluorescence-guided precise hepatectomy. Results SHIFT nanoICG integrates excellent anti-photobleaching capacity, great optical imaging property, and specific tumoral deposition to recognize tumor regions, featuring entire-process enduring fluorescent-guided precise hepatectomy, especially in resection of the indiscoverable satellite lesions (0.6 mm × 0.4 mm) in rabbit bearing VX2 orthotopic hepatocellular carcinoma models. Conclusion Such a simple and effective strategy provides a promising avenue to address the clinical issue of clinical hepatectomy and has excellent potential for a translational pipeline.