Engineers from the University of California San Diego have created a nanoscale optical fiber that has an incredible level of sensitivity: it is capable of detecting fluctuations produced by the turbulence created by the moving bacteria, as well as sound waves generated by the beating cells of the heart tissue. In the future, the sensitivity level will allow experts to monitor each individual cell and warn about changes in the course of their normal work.
“This tool may open to us a door of possibilities of tracking the most subtle interactions and changes in the body that were previously impossible,” says Donald Cerboli, one of the founders of hypersensitive fiber from the University of California.
Progress in the development of microscopy technology has allowed us to penetrate in the tiniest crevices of our physical world, but in order to truly understand what is happening in this world, it is not enough just to have the opportunity to see it – you need to have the opportunity to feel.
It should be noted that the microscope is able to observe the tiny forces that already exist. One example may serve as at least an atomic force microscope capable of scanning the behavior of atoms but also to manipulate them. However, the method by which such microscopes cannot be used to study biological systems.
The ability to measure biological forces the small scale requires that scientists use new approach. Therefore, the group of experts from the United States has developed from a tin oxide fiber, which is 100 times thinner than a human hair. For giving the fiber the ability to “feel”, the tin oxide is coated with a thin layer of polymer studded with gold nanoparticles.
How it works
The method of using such fibers is very simple. All you need is to place the fiber in a solution containing cells or bacteria. The optical fiber emits light that interacts with the gold nanoparticles. Biological forces of the body, and they create sound waves collide with nanoparticles of gold, slightly pushing them in a polymer shell. You can use this value to calculate as the level of the force and the amount of sound it created. The creators of the optical fiber is checked his work after the observation of the cells in the tissue of the beating heart and the movement of flagella (driving body) of the bacteria.
“With this device we were able not only to capture these subtle Biosil and sounds, but also spent their quantitative assessment. This tool is ideal for performing nanomechanical sensing in high resolution,” — says Cerboli.
After calibration of the device was that such a fiber can be 10 times more sensitive than atomic force microscopes and is able to determine the biological strength with exposure levels less than 160 lb (femtonewton), and the sound is less than -30 dB (decibels). And this, in turn, is a thousand times less than the level which can be perceived by the human ear.
Experts note that when using different types of polymer coatings can extend the range of effectiveness of their fiber. For example, for the measurement of large forces it is possible to use a more durable polymer coating, and to determine the smaller of forces with optical fiber you can use a very soft coating, like the same hydrogel.
In the future, the researchers plan to use the optical nanofiber to measure the bioactivity and mechanical behavior of individual cells. This will allow to further increase the technology capabilities and the potential to lead to the creation of ultrasensitive biostatical.
Created technology that allows you to listen to the bacteria and cells
Nikolai Khizhnyak