We introduce an efficacious machine learning classification plus chemostructural characterization of proteins by a mixed data processing based on Principal Component Analysis applied to multipeak fitting on Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering spectra.
Significance: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible and progressive disorder that damages brain cells and impairs the cognitive abilities of the affected. Developing a sensitive and cost-effective method to detect Alzheimer’s biomarkers appears vital in both a diagnostic and therapeutic perspective.
Aim: Our goal is to develop a sensitive and reliable tool for detection of amyloid β (1-42) peptide (Aβ42), a major AD biomarker, using fiber-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (FERS).
Approach: A hollow core photonic crystal fiber (HCPCF) was integrated with a conventional Raman spectroscopic setup to perform FERS measurements. FERS was then coupled with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to further amplify the Raman signal thanks to a combined FERS-SERS assay.
Results: A minimum 20-fold enhancement of the Raman signal of Aβ42 as compared to a conventional Raman spectroscopy scheme was observed using the HCPCF-based light delivery system. The signal was further boosted by decorating the fiber core with gold bipyramids generating an additional SERS effect, resulting in an overall 200 times amplification.
Conclusions: The results demonstrate that the use of an HCPCF-based platform can provide sharp and intense Raman signals of Aβ42, in turn paving the way toward the development of a sensitive label-free detection tool for early diagnosis of AD.
The well-known enhancement effect of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is associated with the presence of metallic nanostructures at the substrate surface. Different bottom-up and top-down processes have been proposed to impart the substrate with such a nanostructured layer. The former approaches are low cost but may suffer from reusability and stability. The latter strategies are expensive, time consuming and require special equipment that complicate the fabrication process.
Here, we present the possibility to obtain stable and reusable SERS substrates by a low-cost silver-sodium ion-exchange process in soda-lime glass microrods. The microrods were obtained by cutting the tip of the ion-exchanged soda-lime fiber, resulting in disks of about few millimeters in length and one hundred microns in diameter. A thermal annealing post-process was applied to trigger the reduction of Ag+ ions into nanoparticles (AgNPs) within the ion-exchanged glass microrods. Afterwards, ion-exchange and thermal treatments were carefully tuned to assure the presence of silver NPs exposed on the surface of the microrods, without using any chemical etching. An AFM analysis confirmed the presence of AgNPs with size of tens of nm on the surface of the fiber probe.
A SERS affinity bioassay was developed on the probe with the final aim of detecting microRNA fragments acting as biomarkers of different diseases. Specifically a DNA hybridization assay was built up by anchoring a molecular beacon containing a Raman tag on the Ag surface via thiol chemistry. Initial SERS experiments confirmed the presence of the beacon on the NPs embedded on the microrods surface, as monitored by detecting main spectral bands ascribed to the oligonucleotide chain. Finally, the ability of the platform to interact with the target microRNA sequence was assessed. The analysis was repeated on a number of miRNA sequences differing from the target to evaluate the specificity of the proposed assay.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible progressive disease that damages the brain cell and affects the cognitive abilities. Hence an early detection of AD biomarkers is vital for the drug treatment. Considering this, we developed a sensitive and reliable sensing tool based on fiber-enhanced Raman spectroscopic technique for the detection of AD biomarkers. The fiber-enhanced Raman measurements were performed using a hollow core photonic crystal fiber, and a comparison of Raman spectra of samples in a conventional cuvette and with the fiber was carried out. The results showed a high enhancement of Raman signal of samples measured with a fiber compared to the measurements carried out in the cuvette.
Plasmon-enhanced spectroscopies such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) concern the detection of enhanced optical responses of molecules in close proximity to plasmonic structures, which results in a strong increase in sensitivity. Recent advancements in nanofabrication methods have paved the way for a controlled design of tailor-made nanostructures with fine-tuning of their optical and surface properties. Among these, silver nanocubes (AgNCs) represent a convenient choice in SERS owing to intense electromagnetic fields localized at their extremities, which are further intensified in the gap regions between closely spaced nanoparticles. The integration of AgNCs assemblies within an optofluidic platform may confer potential for superior optical investigation due to a molecular enrichment on the plasmonic structures to collect an enhanced photonic response. We developed a novel sensing platform based on an optofluidic system involving assembled silver nanocubes of 50 nm in size for ultrasensitive SERS detection of biomolecules in wet conditions. The proposed system offers the perspective of advanced biochemical and biological characterizations of molecules as well as of effective detection of body fluid components and other molecules of biomedical interest in their own environment.
We engineered an effective GO/Ag substrate with a highly controlled and uniform bilayer structure. The substrate was obtained by fine-tuning in the Ag nanocubes (AgNCs) self-assembly, followed by a controlled adsorption of GO sheets on the silver layer. Here the GO coating supplies the signal with additional amplification. The developed GO/AgNCs assemblies show a highly uniform signal distribution, which is ascribed to a homogeneous and soft arrangement of GO sheets over the AgNCs surface. The above characteristics make the GO/AgNCs substrate a reliable tool for detecting different compounds ranging from small molecules to complex biomolecules.
Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) and microsurgery are attracting interest for cancer treatment. The absorption of light triggers thermoelastic processes that cause ultrasound emission and even cavitation. The ultrasounds emission is exploited to reconstruct images, the cavitation may be used to destroy malignant cells. Gold nanorods (GNRs) have been investigated as contrast agents for PAI, but still little is known about the trigger of cavitation processes.
Here we study the influence of GNRs parameters, such as their size, coating and environment, on the cavitation threshold.
We expect these results will provide useful indications to develop new theranostics techniques based on light-ultrasound interaction
In previous works a minimally invasive laser-assisted technique for vascular repair was presented. The technique rests on the photothermal adhesion of a biocompatible and bioresorbable patch containing Indocyanine Green that is brought into contact with the site to be repaired. Afterward the use of NIR millisecond-long light pulses generates a strong welding effect between the patch and the underlying tissue and in turn the repair of the wound. This technique was shown to be effective in animal model and provides several advantages over conventional suturing methods. Here we investigate and discuss the optical stability of the ICG-biopolymeric patches and the photothermal effects induced to the irradiated tissue.
Direct SERS analysis of proteins has been mainly devoted to the characterization of short peptide fragments or to the prosthetic group of metallo-proteins due to their strong SERS response. Nonetheless, this perspective restricts the investigation to very limited peptide sequences and appears of scarce interest for a thorough characterization of the protein. We tried to overcome the above limitations by setting-up an effective platform for the structural SERS detection of proteins. Our proposal escapes the needs of a preliminary modification of the biomolecule and confers rapidity and reproducibility to the analysis. Optimal results are achieved by the use of nonspherical tipped metallic nanostructures with controlled architectural parameters and their assembly into organized bidimensional arrays including a regular distribution of hot spots for protein entrapment and detection. The investigation evidenced that both the contact points between nanoparticle corners and the holes at the interface between nanoparticles are responsible for substantial SERS activity.
Their intense optical absorbance in the near-infrared window and chemical versatility make gold nanorods attractive for biomedical applications, such as photothermal therapies and photoacoustic imaging. However, their limited photostability remains a drawback of practical concern. In fact, when gold nanorods are irradiated with nanosecond laser pulses in resonance with their plasmon oscillations, there may occur reshaping into spherical particles or even fragmentation at higher optical fluences, which cause substantial modifications of their optical features with a loss of photoacoustic conversion efficiency. In this contribution, we focus on how the gold nanorods photostability is affected when these particles are modified for cellular uptake, by investigating their stability and photoacoustic conversion efficiency under near infrared pulsed irradiation at different laser fluences.
Gold nanorods exhibit intense optical absorbance in the near-infrared window of principal interest for applications in biomedical optics making them appealing as contrast agents in photoacoustic imaging and selective photothermolysis of cancer. However their photoinstability under laser irradiation remains a drawback of practical concern. In particular, when GNRs are irradiated with nanosecond laser pulses in resonance with their plasmon oscillations, there may occur phenomena like reshaping into spherical particles, as well as fragmentation at higher optical fluences, which result into modifications of their optical absorption bands and substantial loss of photoacoustic conversion efficiency.
In this contribution we present an investigation of the photostability of gold nanorods embedded in biomimetic scaffolds by means of photoacustic experiments.
Gold nanorods exhibit intense optical absorbance in the near-infrared region of principal interest for applications
in biomedical optics, which evokes their use to improve contrast in photoacoustic imaging and selective
photothermolysis of cancer. However their limited photostability remains a drawback of practical concern. In
particular, when GNRs are irradiated with nanosecond laser pulses in resonance with their plasmon oscillations,
there may occur phenomena like reshaping into spherical particles, as well as fragmentation at higher optical
fluences, which result into dramatic modifications of their optical absorption bands and substantial loss of
photoacoustic conversion efficiency.
In this contribution we present an experimental investigation of stability and photoacoustic conversion efficiency
from gold nanorods embedded in biomimetic scaffolds.
Lithium niobate is a material of great interest for both fundamental science and applications because of the richness of its physical properties. On periodical structured lithium niobate is based quasi-phase-matching technique that allows efficient conversion in nonlinear optical processes. A critical step is the ability to engineering ferroelectric domains on micrometer-scales necessary for the desired interaction. Many efforts have been made to achieve a good control of domain reversal process and to this aim become fundamental to study all effects that influence ferroelectric domains inversion. Among these lithium niobate internal field earns great importance because on it depends observed difference between electric fields required for switching ferroelectric polarization in opposite directions. Moreover it's time-temperature dependent and this feature can bias the stability of LiNbO3 based devices. We perform high spatial resolution interferometric measurement of internal field in lithium niobate crystals. In this way we can analyse influence of micrometer size not homogeneous area on internal field values. The samples are mounted in one arm of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer in microscopic configuration: resulting fringes patterns are visualized and stored by a CCD camera, then recorded data are processed by digital holographic technique in order to obtain 2D phase map of the sample with desired spatial resolution.
In the last years lithium niobate (LN) has become one of the most important optical material in optoelectronics and nonlinear
optics for its large electro-optics and nonlinear optical coefficients. Ferroelectric materials are employed in several electrooptic,
acousto-optic, and nonlinear optical devices, as modulator of light, beam deflector, optical frequency converters, or
tuneable sources of coherent light for spectroscopic applications. Manipulation of ferroelectric domains into gratings,
matrices, or other shapes is possible.
Fabrication of new ordered microstructures in LN samples through domain engineering followed by differential etching has
been developed recently for applications in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. These microstructures have a range of
applications in optical ridge waveguides, alignment structures, V-grooves, micro-tips and micro-cantilever beams and precise
control of the surface quality and topography is required of for photonic band-gap structures. Moreover engineering
ferroelectric domains by an electrical poling technique represent a key process for the construction of a wide range of
photonic devices. Therefore, a thorough understanding of material properties and of the poling process are crucial issues. We
will show that interferometric approach based on Digital Holography can provide a very useful tool for investigation and
characterization of materials and of the engineered structures.
Large built-in internal field is present in congruent LiNbO3 and is due to bulk dipolar defect complexes of nonstoichiometric crystals. This field influence electric field switching of domains as well as other optical and electrical properties of crystals. Moreover it's time-temperature dependent and this feature can bias the stability of LiNbO3 based devices. We investigate how the internal field could affect the electro-optic effect. To this aim an improved interferometric technique is used to obtain a spatially resolved measurement of the electro-optic coefficient of z-cut LiNbO3 crystals. The samples are mounted in one arm of a reflective grating interferometer and resulting fringes patterns are visualized and stored by a CCD camera. Then this as-recorded data are processed by digital holographic technique in order to obtain 2D phase maps as function of the applied voltage across the crystal thickness. Hence spatial distribution of r13 is achieved for crystal either in virgin state or in domain reversed one. Moreover, samples just after poling with two anti-parallel ferroelectric domains structure have been studied. Results show that the virgin area and the reversed one have quite different r13 coefficient values. We suppose that this difference is due to the internal field, however further measurements are currently under investigation to confirm this hypothesis.
We present a method for in-situ visualization of electric field domain reversal in congruent lithium niobate (LN) through an electro-optic interferometric technique. The crystal refractive index n changes by the linear electro-optic and piezoelectric effects along the z crystal axis, due to the external electric field. This variation depends on the domain orientation so that two adjacent antiparallel domains present a refractive index difference equal to 2Dn which is used for in-situ visualization of the reversed domain pattern during formation. A digital holographic (DH) technique is employed for a two-dimensional (2D) reconstruction of the wavefield transmitted by the sample in amplitude and phase during the process. The corresponding amplitude-map and phase-map movies are presented. The amplitude-map gives qualitative information about the spatial evolution of the domain boundaries while the phase-map provides measurement of the 2D distribution of the phase shift induced along the z axis. The phase-map movies provide unequivocal information about the spatial distribution of the reversed domain regions. This technique can be used as in-situ monitoring method alternative to the measurement of the poling current which provides information only about the amount of charge delivered to the sample, ignoring the spatial distribution of the domain boundaries.
We report an interferometric analysis of 0.5mm thick lithium niobate crystal sample by making use of a reflective grating interferometer and a digital holographic technique. The lithium niobate wafer was subjected to electric field poling in order to obtain two antiparallel ferroelectric domains. The crystal was then mounted into one arm of the interferometer in order to study the phase map and consequently to evaluate the effects of domain reversion at the boundary. Engineering of periodically reversed domains in LN is extensively used for quasi-phase-matching applications while the ferroelectric structure investigated here is suitable for producing electro-optically controlled deflector or switch devices via total internal reflection at the domain interface. The above mentioned applications require deep knowledge of how the domain reversal process affects the optical properties of the ferroelectric crystals.
We present a novel interferometric method for testing refractive conical lenses. The optical configuration requires only two mutually coherent plane wave fronts transmitted through the optical component under test. It can be interpreted as reversal shear interferometric technique. The method can also be considered as an interferometric fringe projection method. Measurements have been realized for determining the base angle of the refractive cone under test and the aberrations introduced.
An automated Fourier-transform method of phase retrieval of moire interferometric fringe pattern is presented. The method is shown to provide fast and accurate determination of the phase information by removing the carrier without shifting in frequency domain the filtered Fourier spectrum of the carrier-modulated moire fringe pattern. The principle of the method is described and moire interferometric measurements with submicron sensitivity of the in-plane displacement fields of thick carbon fiber/PEEK composite laminates are analyzed as example of application of the technique.
We have investigated the 689 nm intercombination line of SrI using a visible diode laser (emitting at 690 nm) frequency stabilized by means of the extended cavity scheme. Measurements have been performed both in a cell and in an atomic beam.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.