Hongjie Dai and Stanford scientists look deeper into the body with new fluorescent dye

In recent years, physicians and researchers have increasingly turned to glowing dyes to look beneath the skin.  However, most of these dyes have safety concerns: Some made from carbon nanotubes or quantum dots can linger in the body for days and months, caught in the liver and spleen, before being excreted slowly.  This drawback thus far has prevented their use in humans.
  
Research led by Stanford Chemistry Professor Hongjie Dai with a team of Stanford researchers may have solved that problem by creating a dye that can be excreted through urine within 24 hours.  This development may at some point make this valuable imaging procedure available for human health care.