{
  "abstract": "The short-wave infrared region provides reduced scattering and improved penetration depth compared to visible and near-infrared wavelengths. However, strong water absorption across this spectral window generates background signals that limit the contrast and obscure weak biomolecular features. To address this challenge, we implement a low-temperature approach that exploits the temperature dependence of the water photothermal response to suppress background while preserving lipid-derived signals in photothermal microscopy. Sample cooling during imaging enhanced the signal-to-background ratio (S/B) by up to 5.5-fold in cellular imaging and improved the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of weak lipid features by up to 1.6-fold at greater tissue depths, enabling reliable volumetric imaging in complex biological systems. We further show that a low-temperature approach is also applicable to mid-infrared photothermal microscopy, thus providing an effective means to enhance the photothermal contrast of aqueous specimens.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.",
    "Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.",
    "Photonics Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.",
    "Graduate Program of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Thao N Pham",
      "orcid": "0009-0005-5579-1721"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jiaze Yin",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6080-3073"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Yuhao Yuan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Dingcheng Sun"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Bethany Weinberg"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Hongli Ni",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4323-1493"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        3,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Ji-Xin Cheng",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5607-6683"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3ptc5naj6534s.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1021/cbmi.6c00068",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13715317",
  "id": "3ptc5naj6534s",
  "issns": [
    "2832-3637"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953291",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1304|Spectroscopy Techniques in Biomedical and Chemical Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7163135894",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13715317?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13715317",
  "pmid": "42953291",
  "published": "2026-06-02",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3ptc5naj6534s.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T00:20:41Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42953291",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953291"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-01T12:22:39Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13715317",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1021/cbmi.6c00068"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1304|Spectroscopy Techniques in Biomedical and Chemical Research",
      "subfield": "biophysics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Background-Suppressed Infrared Photothermal Microscopy at Low Temperature.",
  "title_text": "Background-Suppressed Infrared Photothermal Microscopy at Low Temperature.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T12:22:39Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3ptc5naj6534s",
  "venue": "Chemical & biomedical imaging",
  "versions": []
}