New microscope measures and monitors live cells
Flat and efficient high-power lamps
The Illinois research team that created the new photonic crystal enhanced microscope include : ( left to right ) Yue Zhuo , Ji Sun Choi , Hojeong Yu , and faculty Brian Cunningham and Brendan Harley .
New microscope measures and monitors live cells
ECE and Bioengineering Professor Brian Cunningham has invented a novel live-cell imaging method that could someday help biologists better understand how stem cells transform into specialized cells and how diseases like cancer spread . The label-free Photonic Crystal Enhanced Microscope ( PCEM ) monitors and quantitatively measures cell-surface interactions , which are fundamental to things like wound healing , tissue development , tumor invasion , and cancer metastasis . One advantage of Cunningham ’ s PCEM over conventional fluorescent dyes is that it will allow scientists to see how a protein or cell changes over time . Dyes , on the other hand , provide only several hours for cell examination and measurement due to photo bleaching , a process where the light dies out . Another advantage of PCEM is cost — it functions with an LED light source and an inexpensive photonic crystal biosensor made from titanium dioxide , which can be made for less than $ 1 .
Source : Progress in Quantum Electronics , “ Quantitative imaging of cell membrane-associated effective mass density using Photonic Crystal Enhanced Microscopy ,” volume 50 , November 2016 .
Flat and efficient high-power lamps
The vacuum ultraviolet ( VUV ) and UV regions of the electromagnetic spectrum are unique in that the energies of a single photon are comparable to , or exceed , the energies of most molecules . Accordingly , VUV photons are capable of initiating chemical reactions by breaking one or more molecular bonds , a process known as photochemistry . In the past , virtually no efficient and powerful sources of VUV radiation have been available , but a team led by ECE Professor J . Gary Eden and Adjunct Professor Sung-Jin Park has developed and commercialized a family of flat and efficient high-power lamps emitting at discrete wavelengths in the 170-350 nm interval . Eden and colleagues are applying these lamps to the production of ultrapure water for the semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries , the disinfection of wounds and surgical fields ( in collaboration with a medical team at Columbia University ), and even the identification of synthetic diamonds .
Eden Park Illumination in Champaign manufactures this 10 cm x 10 cm lamp producing more than 25 W of power at 172 nm in the VUV spectral region . The thickness of the lamp is 6 mm .
micro + nanotechnology lab | 5 | 2016 highlights report