Investigation of albumin-derived perfluorocarbon-based capsules by holographic optical trapping

Albumin-derived perfluorocarbon-based capsules are promising as artificial oxygen carriers with high solubility. However, these capsules have to be studied further to allow initial human clinical tests. The aim of this paper is to provide and characterize a holographic optical tweezer to enable contactless trapping and moving of individual capsules in an environment that mimics physiological (in vivo) conditions most effectively in order to learn more about the artificial oxygen carrier behavior in blood plasma without recourse to animal experiments. Therefore, the motion behavior of capsules in a ring shaped or vortex beam is analyzed and optimized on account of determination of the optical forces in radial and axial direction. In addition, due to the customization and generation of dynamic phase holograms, the optical tweezer is used for first investigations on the aggregation behavior of the capsules and a statistical evaluation of the bonding in dependency of different capsule sizes is performed. The results show that the optical tweezer is sufficient for studying individual perfluorocarbon-based capsules and provide information about the interaction of these capsules for future use as artificial oxygen carriers.

Photolysis of a peptide with N-peptidyl-7-nitroindoline units using two-photon absorption

N-acyl-7-nitroindolines have been used as caged compounds to photorelease active molecules by a one- or two-photon excitation mechanism in biological systems. Here, we report the photolysis of a polypeptide that contains 7-nitroindoline units as linker moieties in its peptide backbone for potential materials engineering applications. Upon two-photon excitation with femtosecond laser light at 710 nm the photoreactive amide bond in N-peptidyl-7-nitroindolines is cleaved rendering short peptide fragments. Thus, this photochemical process changes the molecular composition at the laser focal volume. Gel modifications of this peptide can potentially be used for three-dimensional microstructure fabrication.

Optical lens-microneedle array for percutaneous light delivery

The limited penetration depth of light in skin tissues is a practical bottleneck in dermatologic applications of light-induced therapies, including anti-microbial blue light therapy and photodynamic skin cancer therapy. Here, we demonstrate a novel device, termed optical microneedle array (OMNA), for percutaneous light delivery. A prototype device with a 11 by 11 array of needles at a spacing of 1 mm and a length of 1.6 mm was fabricated by press-molding poly-(lactic acid) (PLA) polymers. The device also incorporates a matched microlens array that focuses the light through the needle tips at specific points to achieve an optimal intensity profile in the tissue. In experiments done with bovine tissues, the OMNA enabled us to deliver a total of 7.5% of the input photons at a wavelength of 491 nm, compared to only 0.85% without the device. This 9-fold enhancement of light delivery was close to the prediction of 10.8 dB by ray-tracing simulation and is expected to increase the effective treatment depth of anti-microbial blue light therapy significantly from 1.3 to 2.5 mm in human skin.

Biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles containing gold nanoparticles and Paclitaxel for cancer imaging and drug delivery using photoacoustic methods

In this study, optical-triggered multifunctional theranostic agents for photoacoustic/fluorescent imaging and cancer therapy have been developed. This system consists of a perfluorohexane liquid and gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in the core, stabilized by a Poly (lactide-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) polymer shell. When cancer cells containing PLGA-GNPs were exposed to laser pulses, cell viability decreased due to the vaporization of the particles in and around the cells. The particle chemo drug loading and delivery capacity was also investigated in vitro experiments. These particles show potential as photoacoustic imaging and therapy agents for future clinical translation in cancer therapy.

Dynamic absorption and scattering of water and hydrogel during high-repetition-rate (>100 MHz) burst-mode ultrafast-pulse laser ablation

High-repetition-rate burst-mode ultrafast-laser ablation and disruption of biological tissues depends on interaction of each pulse with the sample, but under those particular conditions which persist from previous pulses. This work characterizes and compares the dynamics of absorption and scattering of a 133-MHz repetition-rate, burst-mode ultrafast-pulse laser, in agar hydrogel targets and distilled water. The differences in energy partition are quantified, pulse-by-pulse, using a time-resolving integrating-sphere-based device. These measurements reveal that high-repetition-rate burst-mode ultrafast-laser ablation is a highly dynamical process affected by the persistence of ionization, dissipation of plasma plume, neutral material flow, tissue tensile strength, and the hydrodynamic oscillation of cavitation bubbles.

Feature issue introduction: biophotonic materials and applications

Biophotonics can be defined as the interplay of light and biological matter. The percolation of new optical technology into the realm of biology has literally shed new light into the inner workings of biological systems. This has revealed new applications for optics in biology. In a parallel trend, biomolecules have been investigated for their optical applications. Materials are playing a central role in the development of biophotonics. New materials, fabrication methods, and structures are enabling new biosensors, contrast agents, imaging strategies, and assay methods. Similarly, biologic materials themselves can be used in photonic devices. In this context, two open-access, rapid-publication journals from The Optical Society of America (OSA), Optical Materials Express and Biomedical Optics Express, will publish a joint feature issue covering advances in biophotonics materials.

Using optical trap to measure the refractive index of a single animal virus in culture fluid with high precision

The refractive index (RI) is a fundamental parameter of materials that can be used to distinguish and sort materials of different nature. Although the RI of a virus is required for many optics-based biosensing applications, RIs of animal viruses have never been measured. Here we have developed a technique that can measure the RI of individual viruses in aqueous media with high precision. This technique is based on optical trapping of single virions and works by relating the size and RI of a single virus to the stiffness of an optical trap. We have derived an analytic expression to quantitatively describe the optical trapping of these particles. We have validated this equation using nanoparticles of known RI, and measured the RI of individual human immunodeficiency viruses type-1, which yielded a value of 1.42 at 830 nm with less than 2% coefficient of variation. This value is much lower than the RI typically assumed for viruses, but very close to that of 2.0 M sucrose solution in water. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the experimental measurement of the RI for a single animal virus in aqueous media. This technique does not require prior knowledge on the diameter of the nanoparticles, and can be applied to other viruses or nanoparticles for accurate measurement of RI that is critical for the label-free detection of these particles in various settings.

Optical fiber LPG biosensor integrated microfluidic chip for ultrasensitive glucose detection

An optical fiber sensor integrated microfluidic chip is presented for ultrasensitive detection of glucose. A long-period grating (LPG) inscribed in a small-diameter single-mode fiber (SDSMF) is employed as an optical refractive-index (RI) sensor. With the layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technique, poly (ethylenimine) (PEI) and poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) multilayer film is deposited on the SDSMF-LPG sensor for both supporting and signal enhancement, and then a glucose oxidase (GOD) layer is immobilized on the outer layer for glucose sensing. A microfluidic chip for glucose detection is fabricated after embedding the SDSMF-LPG biosensor into the microchannel of the chip. Experimental results reveal that the SDSMF-LPG biosensor based on such a hybrid sensing film can ultrasensitively detect glucose concentration as low as 1 nM. After integration into the microfluidic chip, the detection range of the sensor is extended from 2 µM to 10 µM, and the response time is remarkablely shortened from 6 minutes to 70 seconds.

Erythrocyte-derived nano-probes functionalized with antibodies for targeted near infrared fluorescence imaging of cancer cells

Constructs derived from mammalian cells are emerging as a new generation of nano-scale platforms for clinical imaging applications. Herein, we report successful engineering of hybrid nano-structures composed of erythrocyte-derived membranes doped with FDA-approved near infrared (NIR) chromophore, indocyanine green (ICG), and surface-functionalized with antibodies to achieve molecular targeting. We demonstrate that these constructs can be used for targeted imaging of cancer cells in vitro. These erythrocyte-derived optical nano-probes may provide a potential platform for clinical translation, and enable molecular imaging of cancer biomarkers.

Doxorubicin loaded nanodiamond-silk spheres for fluorescence tracking and controlled drug release

Nanoparticle (NP) based technologies have proved to be considerably beneficial for advances in biomedicine especially in the areas of disease detection, drug delivery and bioimaging. Over the last few decades, NPs have garnered interest for their exemplary impacts on the detection, treatment, and prevention of cancer. The full potential of these technologies are yet to be employed for clinical use. The ongoing research and development in this field demands single multifunctional composite materials that can be employed simultaneously for drug delivery and biomedical imaging. In this manuscript, a unique combination of silk fibroin (SF) and nanodiamonds (NDs) in the form of nanospheres are fabricated and investigated. The spheres were loaded with the anthracyline Doxorubicin (DoX) and the drug release kinetics for these ND-SF-DoX (NDSX) spheres were studied. NDs provided the fluorescence modality for imaging while the degradable SF spheres stabilized and released the drug in a controlled manner. The emission and structural properties of the spheres were characterized during drug release. The degradability of SF and the subsequent release of DoX from the spheres were monitored through fluorescence of NDs inside the spheres. This research demonstrates the enormous potential of the ND-SF nanocomposite platforms for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, which are both important for pharmaceutical research and clinical settings.

Surface-modified complex SU-8 microstructures for indirect optical manipulation of single cells

We introduce a method that combines two-photon polymerization (TPP) and surface functionalization to enable the indirect optical manipulation of live cells. TPP-made 3D microstructures were coated specifically with a multilayer of the protein streptavidin and non-specifically with IgG antibody using polyethylene glycol diamine as a linker molecule. Protein density on their surfaces was quantified for various coating methods. The streptavidin-coated structures were shown to attach to biotinated cells reproducibly. We performed basic indirect optical micromanipulation tasks with attached structure-cell couples using complex structures and a multi-focus optical trap. The use of such extended manipulators for indirect optical trapping ensures to keep a safe distance between the trapping beams and the sensitive cell and enables their 6 degrees of freedom actuation.

Biocompatible silk step-index optical waveguides

Biocompatible optical waveguides were constructed entirely of silk fibroin. A silk film (n=1.54) was encapsulated within a silk hydrogel (n=1.34) to form a robust and biocompatible waveguide. Such waveguides were made using only biologically and environmentally friendly materials without the use of harsh solvents. Light was coupled into the silk waveguides by direct incorporation of a glass optical fiber. These waveguides are extremely flexible, and strong enough to survive handling and manipulation. Cutback measurements showed propagation losses of approximately 2 dB/cm. The silk waveguides were found to be capable of guiding light through biological tissue.

Ultrafast transient absorption of eumelanin suspensions: the role of inverse Raman scattering

An ultrafast investigation is carried out on synthetic eumelanin suspended either in water or in DMSO-methanol. Upon photoexcitation by visible femtosecond pulses, the transient absorption (TA) dynamics of the suspensions are probed in a broad visible spectral range, showing clear nonlinearities. The latter arise from pump-probe interactions that induce the inverse Raman scattering (IRS) effect. We show how eumelanin TA dynamics are modified in proximity of the solvent Stokes and anti-Stokes scattering peaks, demonstrating that IRS affects the sign of TA but not the relaxation times. We compare the results obtained in both suspensions, unveiling the role of the surrounding environment. Eventually, the intrinsic response of synthetic eumelanin to ultrafast photoexcitation is evaluated.

Fluorescence depletion properties of insulin-gold nanoclusters

Insulin-gold nanoclusters exhibit outstanding biocompatibility, photostability, and fluorescence quantum efficiency. However, they have never been used in superresolution microscopy, which requires nonlinear switching or saturation of fluorescence. Here we examine the fluorescence and stimulated emission depletion properties of gold nanoclusters. Their bleaching rate is very slow, demonstrating superior photostability. Surprisingly, however, the best depletion efficiency is less than 70%, whereas the depletion intensity requirement is much higher than the expectation from a simple two-level model. Fluorescence lifetime measurement revealed two distinct lifetime components, which indicate intersystem and reverse intersystem crossing during excitation. Based on population dynamic calculation, excellent agreement of the maximal depletion efficiency is found. Our work not only features the first examination of STED with metallic clusters, but also reveals the significance of molecular transition dynamics when considering a STED labeling.

Fabrication of three-dimensional multi-protein microstructures for cell migration and adhesion enhancement

In this study, three-dimensional (3D) multi-component microstructures were precisely fabricated via multiphoton excited photochemistry using a femtosecond laser direct-writing system with proposed repetition positioning and vector scanning techniques. Extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, such as fibronectin (FN), are difficult to stack and form 3D structures larger than several-hundred microns in height due to the nature of their protein structure. Herein, to fabricate complex 3D microstructures with FN, a 3D scaffold was designed and formed from bovine serum albumin (BSA), after which human FN was inserted at specific locations on the BSA scaffold; in this manner, the fabricated ECM microstructure can guide cells in a 3D environment. A human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231, was used to investigate the behavior of cell migration and adhesion on the fabricated human FN and BSA protein structures. Experimental results indicate that many cells are not able to attach or climb on a 3D structure's inclined plane without FN support; hence, the influence of cell growth in a 3D context with FN should being taken into consideration. This 3D multi-protein fabrication technique holds potential for cell studies in designed complex 3D ECM scaffolds.

Engineering optically triggered droplets for photoacoustic imaging and therapy

Liquid perfluorocarbon (PFC) droplets incorporating optical absorbers can be vaporized through photothermal heating using a pulsed laser source. Here, we report on the effect of droplet core material on the optical fluence required to produce droplet vaporization. We fabricate gold nanoparticle templated microbubbles filled with various PFC gases (C3F8, C4F10, and C5F12) and apply pressure to condense them into droplets. The core material is found to have a strong effect on the threshold optical fluence, with lower boiling point droplets allowing for vaporization at lower laser fluence. The impact of droplet size on vaporization threshold is discussed, as well as a proposed mechanism for the relatively broad distribution of vaporization thresholds observed within a droplet population with the same core material. We propose that the control of optical vaporization threshold enabled by engineering the droplet core may find application in contrast enhanced photoacoustic imaging and therapy.

Optical projection tomography as a tool for 3D imaging of hydrogels

An Optical Projection Tomography (OPT) system was developed and optimized to image 3D tissue engineered products based in hydrogels. We develop pre-reconstruction algorithms to get the best result from the reconstruction procedure, which include correction of the illumination and determination of sample center of rotation (CoR). Existing methods for CoR determination based on the detection of the maximum variance of reconstructed slices failed, so we develop a new CoR search method based in the detection of the variance sharpest local maximum. We show the capabilities of the system to give quantitative information of different types of hydrogels that may be useful in its characterization.

Full-depth epidermis tomography using a Mirau-based full-field optical coherence tomography

With a Gaussian-like broadband light source from high brightness Ce(3+):YAG single-clad crystal fiber, a full-field optical coherence tomography using a home-designed Mirau objective realized high quality images of in vivo and excised skin tissues. With a 40 × silicone-oil-immersion Mirau objective, the achieved spatial resolutions in axial and lateral directions were 0.9 and 0.51 μm, respectively. Such a high spatial resolution enables the separation of lamellar structure of the full epidermis in both the cross-sectional and en face planes. The number of layers of stratum corneum and its thickness were quantitatively measured. This label free and non-invasive optical probe could be useful for evaluating the water barrier of skin tissue in clinics. As a preliminary in vivo experiment, the blood vessel in dermis was also observed, and the flowing of the red blood cells and location of the melanocyte were traced.

Pulsetrain-burst mode, ultrafast-laser interactions with 3D viable cell cultures as a model for soft biological tissues

A 3D living-cell culture in hydrogel has been developed as a standardized low-tensile-strength tissue proxy for study of ultrafast, pulsetrain-burst laser-tissue interactions. The hydrogel is permeable to fluorescent biomarkers and optically transparent, allowing viable and necrotic cells to be imaged in 3D by confocal microscopy. Good cell-viability allowed us to distinguish between typical cell mortality and delayed subcellular tissue damage (e.g., apoptosis and DNA repair complex formation), caused by laser irradiation. The range of necrosis depended on laser intensity, but not on pulsetrain-burst duration. DNA double-strand breaks were quantified, giving a preliminary upper limit for genetic damage following laser treatment.

Characterization of a synthetic bioactive polymer by nonlinear optical microscopy

Tissue Engineering is a new emerging field that offers many possibilities to produce three-dimensional and functional tissues like ligaments or scaffolds. The biocompatibility of these materials is crucial in tissue engineering, since they should be integrated in situ and should induce a good cell adhesion and proliferation. One of the most promising materials used for tissue engineering are polyesters such as Poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL), which is used in this work. In our case, the bio-integration is reached by grafting a bioactive polymer (pNaSS) on a PCL surface. Using nonlinear microscopy, PCL structure is visualized by SHG and proteins and cells by two-photon excitation autofluorescence generation. A comparative study between grafted and nongrafted polymer films is provided. We demonstrate that the polymer grafting improves the protein adsorption by a factor of 75% and increase the cell spreading onto the polymer surface. Since the spreading is directly related to cell adhesion and proliferation, we demonstrate that the pNaSS grafting promotes PCL biocompatibility.

Digital holographic microscopy of the myelin figure structural dynamics and the effect of thermal gradient

Myelin figures (MFs) are cylindrical multilamellar lipid tubes that can be found in various healthy and diseased living cells. Their formation and dynamics involve some of the most mysterious configurations that lipid molecules can adopt under certain conditions. They have been studied with different microscopy methods. Due to the frequent coiling of their structure, the usual methods of microscopy fail to give precise quantitative information about their dynamics. In this paper, we introduced Digital Holographic Microscopy (DHM) as a useful method to calculate the precise dynamical volume, thickness, surface and length of the myelin figures. As an example of DHM imaging of myelin figures, their structure and growth rate in the presence and absence of temperature gradient have been studied in this work. We showed that the thickness of a myelin figure can be changed during the first few seconds. However, after approximately ten seconds, the thickness stabilizes and does not alter significantly. We further studied the effect of the thermal gradient on the length growth. The calculation of the length growth from the measurement of the myelin figure volume shows that the length (L) grows in time (t) as [Formula: see text]at the early stage of the myelin protrusion in both the presence and the absence of the thermal gradient. However, thermal gradient facilitates the growth and increases its rate.

Zirconia dental implants degradation by confocal Raman microspectroscopy: analytical simulation and experiments

Subsurface hydrothermal degradation of yttria stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (3Y-TZP) is presented. Evaluation of low temperature degradation (LTD) phase transformation induced by aging in 3Y-TZP is experimentally studied by Raman confocal microspectroscopy. A non-linear distribution of monoclinic volume fraction is determined in depth by using different pinhole sizes. A theoretical simulation is proposed based on the convolution of the excitation intensity profile and the Beer-Lambert law (optical properties of zirconia) to compare between experiment and theory. The calculated theoretical degradation curves matche closely to the experimental ones. Surface transformation (V0) and transformation factor in depth (T) are obtained by comparing simulation and experience for each sample with nondestructive optical sectioning.

Stokes vector based polarization resolved second harmonic microscopy of starch granules

We report on the measurement and analysis of the polarization state of second harmonic signals generated by starch granules, using a four-channel photon counting based Stokes-polarimeter. Various polarization parameters, such as the degree of polarization (DOP), the degree of linear polarization (DOLP), the degree of circular polarization (DOCP), and anisotropy are extracted from the 2D second harmonic Stokes images of starch granules. The concentric shell structure of a starch granule forms a natural photonic crystal structure. By integration over all the solid angle, it will allow very similar SHG quantum efficiency regardless of the angle or the states of incident polarization. Given type I phase matching and the concentric shell structure of a starch granule, one can easily infer the polarization states of the input beam from the resulting SH micrograph.

Terahertz imaging of excised oral cancer at frozen temperature

The feasibility of terahertz (THz) imaging at frozen temperature for the clinical application of oral cancer detection was investigated by analyzing seven oral tissues resected from four patients. The size, shape, and internal position of the oral cancers were mapped by THz radiation in the frequency range of 0.2-1.2 THz at -20 °C and 20 °C, and compared with those identified in the histological examination. THz imaging of frozen tissue was found to offer greater sensitivity in distinguishing cancerous areas from surrounding tissue and a larger THz-frequency spectral difference between the oral cancer and normal mucosa than room-temperature THz imaging. A cancerous tumor hidden inside tissue was also detected using this method by observing the THz temporal domain waveform. The histological analysis showed that these findings resulted from cell structure deformations involving the invasion of oral tumor and neoplastic transformations of mucous cells. Therefore, a cytological approach using THz radiation at a frozen temperature might be applied to detect oral cancer.

Compensation method for obtaining accurate, sub-micrometer displacement measurements of immersed specimens using electronic speckle interferometry

We proposed and validated a compensation method that accounts for the optical distortion inherent in measuring displacements on specimens immersed in aqueous solution. A spherically-shaped rubber specimen was mounted and pressurized on a custom apparatus, with the resulting surface displacements recorded using electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI). Point-to-point light direction computation is achieved by a ray-tracing strategy coupled with customized B-spline-based analytical representation of the specimen shape. The compensation method reduced the mean magnitude of the displacement error induced by the optical distortion from 35% to 3%, and ESPI displacement measurement repeatability showed a mean variance of 16 nm at the 95% confidence level for immersed specimens. The ESPI interferometer and numerical data analysis procedure presented herein provide reliable, accurate, and repeatable measurement of sub-micrometer deformations obtained from pressurization tests of spherically-shaped specimens immersed in aqueous salt solution. This method can be used to quantify small deformations in biological tissue samples under load, while maintaining the hydration necessary to ensure accurate material property assessment.

Extending vaterite microviscometry to ex vivo blood vessels by serial calibration

The endothelial glycocalyx layer is a ~2 µm thick glycosaminoglycan rich pericellular matrix expressed on the luminal surface of vascular endothelial cells, which has implications in vessel mechanics and mechanotransduction. Despite its role in vascular physiology, no direct measurement has of yet been made of vessel glycocalyx material properties. Vaterite microviscometry is a laser tweezers based microrheological method, which has been previously utilized to measure the viscosity of linear and complex fluids under flow. This form of microrheology has until now relied on complete recollection of the forward scattered light. Here we present a novel method to extend vaterite microviscometry to relatively thick samples. We validate our method and its assumptions and measure the apparent viscosity as a function of distance from the vascular endothelium. We observe a differential response in conditions designed to preserve the EGL in comparison to those designed to collapse it.