Objective: Recent research has demonstrated that nerves can be stimulated by transient heating associated with the absorption of infrared light by water in the tissue. There is a great deal of interest in using this technique in neural prostheses, due to the potential for increased localization of the stimulus and minimization of contact with the tissue. However, thermal modelling suggests that the full benefits of increased localization may be reduced by cumulative heating effects when multiple stimulus sites and/or high repetition rates are used.
Approach: Here we review recent in vitro and in vivo results suggesting that the transient heating associated with plasmon absorption in gold nanorods can also be used to stimulate nerves.
Main Results: Patch clamp experiments on cultured spiral ganglion neurons exhibited action potentials when exposed to 780 nm light at the plasmon absorption peak, while the amplitude of compound action potentials in the rat sciatic nerve were increased by laser irradiation of gold nanorods in the vicinity of the plasma membrane. Similarly, calcium imaging studies of NG108-15 neuronal cells incubated with Au nanorods revealed an increased level of intracellular calcium activity synchronized with laser exposure.
Significance: Given that the plasmon absorption peak of gold nanorods can be matched with the transparency window of biological tissues, these results demonstrate that nanorod absorbers hold great promise to enhance the process of infrared neural stimulation for future applications in neural prostheses and fundamental studies in neuroscience.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1741-2560/11/6/065002 | DOI Listing |
Commun Phys
December 2024
C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794 USA.
Solid-state detectors with a low energy threshold have several applications, including searches of non-relativistic halo dark-matter particles with sub-GeV masses. When searching for relativistic, beyond-the-Standard-Model particles with enhanced cross sections for small energy transfers, a small detector with a low energy threshold may have better sensitivity than a larger detector with a higher energy threshold. In this paper, we calculate the low-energy ionization spectrum from high-velocity particles scattering in a dielectric material.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnal Chem
December 2024
College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
According to the fluorescence internal filtering effect (IFE), the more the absorption spectrum of the quencher overlaps with the excitation and emission spectra of the fluorescent substance, the better the quenching effect and, correspondingly, the more significant and sensitive the contrast becomes when the fluorescence is turned on. Thus, in the competitive fluorescence-quenching lateral flow immunoassays (FQ-LFIAs), the fluorescence quencher with an outstanding optical property is of great importance. Herein, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and polydopamine (PDA) coengineered covalent organic frameworks (COF/Au@PDA) were synthesized as a fluorescence quencher to increase spectral overlap.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTalanta
December 2024
Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety of Guangdong Province, College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China. Electronic address:
Stimulant laxatives (especially bisacodyl and sodium picosulfate) are frequently found to be adulterated into slimming foods, causing health-threatening effects to consumers. Sensitive, accurate, easy-to-operate and portable multiplex analytical techniques are still desired for the rapid screening of stimulant laxatives in slimming foods. In this work, a highly sensitive dual-modal colorimetric/photothermal lateral flow immunochromatographic assay (LFIA) was established based on facilely prepared concentrated gold nanoparticles (cAuNPs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Hazard Mater
December 2024
Yangtze Delta Region Institute (Huzhou), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Huzhou 313000, China; School of Resources and Environment, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China. Electronic address:
Photocatalytic technology provides a new approach for the harmless treatment of low concentration NO in the atmosphere. The development of high-performance semiconductor materials to improve the light absorption efficiency and the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers is the focus of the research. Bismuth oxybismuth sulfate (BiOSO) shows significant potential for photocatalytic NO purification due to its unique electronic and layered structure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Adv
December 2024
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Most molecules and dielectric materials have characteristic bond vibrations or phonon modes in the mid-infrared regime. However, infrared absorption spectroscopy lacks the sensitivity for detecting trace analytes due to the low quantum efficiency of infrared sensors. Here, we report mid-infrared photothermal plasmonic scattering (MIP-PS) spectroscopy to push the infrared detection limit toward nearly a hundred molecules in a plasmonic nanocavity.
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