"Through the system, we can clearly monitor the functions of the mouse's heart, liver, spleen, artery and other organs," SINANO researcher Wang Qiangbin said in the introduction to the new near-infrared imaging system, which recently won the first prize of the 2017 Jiangsu Science and Technology Awards.

Wang joined Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-bionics (SINANO) at Chinese Academy of Sciences?in 2008 when he returned from Arizona State University and started the research into the new imaging system together with his team in 2010. He said the system will facilitate targeted delivery of anti-cancer drugs to human bodies without causing damage to the normal organs while helping reduce the usual toxic and side effects in the wake of chemotherapy.

"The fluorescence with a wave length ranging from 1,000 to 1,700 nm enables deeper, clearer and faster imaging that cannot be achieved by the existing imaging technologies," Wang said.

According to Wang, the new system is now under professional safety evaluation and expected to come into clinical trial soon with the support of several national special funds.