Validation of an automated system for the experimentation of photothermal therapies on cell cultures

Hyperthermia is a technique used in treatments against cancer, consisting in heating the cancerous tissue to 40–44 ∘C to produce apoptosis. The addition of noble metal nanoparticles would suppose a great progress in this technique development, due to their ability to produce heat or release drugs in or near the cancer cells when irradiated at a certain wavelength. This paper presents the validation of a prototype automated system for the basic experimentation of hyperthermia mediated by nanoparticles on cell cultures. It consists of a laser beam irradiating the samples placed in a 2D moving mechanism, an ambient temperature control to keep the samples in an incubation temperature range, and a thermographic camera to measure the temperature achieved. The system is controlled from a computer by a graphical user interface. The validation is done first in a suspension of gold nanostars and water to validate the temperature ranges, and then in SK-Mel and HeLa cell cultures, with varying concentrations and exposure times and measuring the cell viability 24 h after. These experiments showed that the treatment is possible and will cause cell death within a certain range of the variables to be applied. Also, an in-silico model of gold nanoparticle and its suspension in water was developed to try to predict the temperatures achieved during the treatment. The results of this model simulations are compared with the experiment results. [Display omitted] •Lab automation for photothermal therapy experimentation.•Real time sample temperature measurement.•Photothermal therapy citotoxicity measurements.•Nanoparticle and suspension response modelization.