Light-Assisted Drying for the Thermal Stabilization of Nucleic Acid Nanoparticles and Other Biologics.

Cold-chain storage can be challenging and expensive for the transportation and storage of biologics, especially in low-resource settings. Nucleic acid nanoparticles (NANPs) are an example of new biological products that require refrigerated storage. Light-assisted drying (LAD) is a new processing technique to prepare biologics for anhydrous storage in a trehalose amorphous solid matrix at ambient temperatures.

The Application of Light-Assisted Drying to the Thermal Stabilization of Nucleic Acid Nanoparticles.

Cold-chain storage can be challenging and expensive for the transportation and storage of biologics, especially in low-resource settings. Nucleic acid nanoparticles (NANPs) are an example of new biological products that require refrigerated storage. Light-assisted drying (LAD) is a new processing technique to prepare biologics for anhydrous storage in a trehalose amorphous solid matrix at ambient temperatures.

Anhydrous Nucleic Acid Nanoparticles for Storage and Handling at Broad Range of Temperatures.

Recent advances in nanotechnology now allow for the methodical implementation of therapeutic nucleic acids (TNAs) into modular nucleic acid nanoparticles (NANPs) with tunable physicochemical properties which can match the desired biological effects, provide uniformity, and regulate the delivery of multiple TNAs for combinatorial therapy. Despite the potential of novel NANPs, the maintenance of their structural integrity during storage and shipping remains a vital issue that impedes their broader applications. Cold chain storage is required to maintain the potency of NANPs in the liquid phase, which greatly increases transportation costs.

Microwave- and Laser-Assisted Drying for the Anhydrous Preservation of Biologics.

Dry preservation has become an attractive approach for the long-term storage of biologics. By removing water from the matrix to solidify the sample, refrigeration needs are reduced, and thus storage costs are minimized and shipping logistics greatly simplified. This chapter describes two energy deposition technologies, namely, microwave and laser systems, that have recently been used to enhance the rate and nature of solution densification for the purpose of anhydrous preservation of feline oocytes, sperm, and egg white lysozyme in trehalose glass.

Light-assisted drying for anhydrous preservation of biological samples: optical characterization of the trehalose preservation matrix.

Protein-based drugs have been developed to treat a variety of conditions and assays use immobilized capture proteins for disease detection. Freeze-drying is currently the standard for the preservation of proteins, but this method is expensive and requires lengthy processing times. Anhydrous preservation in a trehalose amorphous solid matrix offers a promising alternative to freeze-drying.

Hyperspectral imaging system based on a single-pixel camera design for detecting differences in tissue properties.

Optical spectroscopy can be used to distinguish between healthy and diseased tissue. In this study, the design and testing of a single-pixel hyperspectral imaging (HSI) system that uses autofluorescence emission from collagen (400 nm) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (475 nm) along with differences in the optical reflectance spectra to differentiate between healthy and thermally damaged tissue is discussed. The changes in protein autofluorescence and reflectance due to thermal damage are studied in ex vivo porcine tissue models.

Light-assisted drying for protein stabilization.

A light-based processing method to create an amorphous trehalose matrix for the stabilization of proteins is discussed. This method has potential applications in the stabilization of protein-based therapeutics and diagnostics. During light-assisted drying (LAD), proteins suspended in a trehalose solution are dehydrated using near-infrared (NIR) laser light.

Noninvasive enhanced mid-IR imaging of breast cancer development in vivo.

Lumpectomy coupled with radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy is commonly used to treat breast cancer patients. We are developing an enhanced thermal IR imaging technique that has the potential to provide real-time imaging to guide tissue excision during a lumpectomy by delineating tumor margins. This enhanced thermal imaging method is a combination of IR imaging (8 to 10  μm ) and selective heating of blood (∼0.

Fiber-optic manipulation of urinary stone phantoms using holmium:YAG and thulium fiber lasers.

Fiber-optic attraction of urinary stones during laser lithotripsy may be exploited to manipulate stone fragments inside the urinary tract without mechanical grasping tools, saving the urologist time and space in the ureteroscope working channel. We compare thulium fiber laser (TFL) high pulse rate/low pulse energy operation to conventional holmium:YAG low pulse rate/high pulse energy operation for fiber-optic suctioning of plaster-of-paris (PoP) stone phantoms. A TFL (wavelength of 1908 nm, pulse energy of 35 mJ, pulse duration of 500 μs, and pulse rate of 10 to 350 Hz) and a holmium laser (wavelength of 2120 nm, pulse energy of 35 to 360 mJ, pulse duration of 300 μs, and pulse rate of 20 Hz) were tested using 270-μm-core optical fibers.

Noninvasive laser coagulation of the human vas deferens: optical and thermal simulations.

Background And Objectives: Successful noninvasive laser coagulation of the canine vas deferens, in vivo, has been previously reported. However, there is a significant difference between the optical properties of canine and human skin. In this study, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of light transport through tissue and heat transfer simulations are performed to determine the feasibility of noninvasive laser vasectomy in humans.

Noninvasive thermal coagulation of deep subsurface tissue structures using a laser probe with integrated contact cooling.

Cooling methods are used during cosmetic laser surgery to preserve a superficial layer of the skin surface. This study investigates contact cooling for sparing a deeper layer of the tissue surface during laser irradiation of subsurface tissues, with the goal of developing noninvasive laser therapy applications beyond cosmetic surgery. A laser probe was designed and tested for simultaneous laser irradiation and contact cooling of liver tissue, ex vivo.