Photoluminescence lifetime imaging of upconverting nanoparticles is increasingly featured in recent progress in optical thermometry. Despite remarkable advances in photoluminescent temperature indicators, existing optical instruments lack the ability of wide-field photoluminescence lifetime imaging in real time, thus falling short in dynamic temperature mapping. Here, we have developed single-shot photoluminescence lifetime imaging thermometry (SPLIT), which is developed from a compressed-sensing ultrahigh-speed imaging paradigm. Using the core/shell NaGdF4:Er3+,Yb3+/NaGdF4 upconverting nanoparticles as the lifetime-based temperature indicators, we apply SPLIT in longitudinal wide-field temperature monitoring beneath a thin scattering medium. SPLIT also enables video-rate temperature mapping of a moving biological sample at single-cell resolution.
In modern medicine, wound healing remains a very complex process where the main goal is to achieve a fast regeneration matched to an aesthetically satisfactory appearance. In particular, reducing the wound healing time and minimizing tissue scarring are important requirements. In view of minimally-invasive clinical interventions, nanoparticle-assisted laser tissue soldering is emerging as an appealing concept in surgical medicine due to its ability to facilitate wound healing while avoiding sutures. However, such a therapy has not been employed in clinical settings yet. The underlying reason is the fact that rapid elevation in temperature can cause significant photothermal tissue damage. Therefore, cutting-edge diagnostic tools are indispensable in order to monitor the temperature in tissue and achieve satisfactory healing results. To this end, we propose a non-invasive, non-contact, and non-ionizing modality for monitoring nanoparticle-assisted laser-tissue interaction and visualizing the localized photothermal damage, by taking advantage of the unique sensitivity of terahertz radiation to the hydration level of biological tissue. We demonstrate that terahertz imaging can be employed as a versatile tool to monitor the temperature variations and reveal the thermally affected evolution in tissue. In particular, terahertz imaging is able to provide quantitative information along the depth direction, in turn allowing us to characterize the photothermal damage induced by nanoparticle-assisted laser tissue soldering in three dimensions. Our approach can be easily extended and applied across a broad range of clinical applications associated with laser-tissue interactions, such as laser ablation and photothermal therapies.
KEYWORDS: Photography, Optical imaging, CMOS cameras, 3D scanning, Reconstruction algorithms, Real time imaging, Physics, Materials science, Laser scanners, Imaging systems
Single-shot real-time ultra-high-speed imaging is of significance in capturing transient phenomena. Existing techniques fall short in possessing satisfying specifications in the imaging speed, sequence depth, and pixel count. To overcome these limitations, we have developed compressed optical-streaking ultra-high-speed photography (COSUP) that records a scene (x, y, t) by applying the operations of spatial encoding, temporal shearing, and spatiotemporal integrating. The COSUP system possesses an imaging speed of 1.5 million frames per second (fps), a sequence depth of 500 frames, and a pixel count of 0.5 megapixels per frame. COSUP is demonstrated by imaging single laser pulses illuminating through transmissive targets and by tracking a fast-moving object. We envision COSUP to be applied in widespread applications in biomedicine and materials science.
Functional nanoscale materials are being extensively investigated for applications in biology and medicine and are ready to make significant contributions in the realization of exciting advancements in diverse areas of diagnostics and therapeutics. Aiming for more accurate, efficient, non-invasive and fast diagnostic tools, the use of near-infrared (NIR) light in the range of the 1st and 2nd biological window (NIR-I: 0.70-0.95 µm; NIR-II: 1.00-1.35 µm) provides deeper penetration depth into biological tissue, better image contrast, reduced phototoxicity and photobleaching. Consequently, NIR-based bioimaging became a quickly emerging field and manifold new NIR-emitting bioprobes have been reported. Since commercially available microscopes are not optimized for this kind of NPs, a new microscopy hyperspectral confocal imager has been developed to cover a broad spectral range (400 to 1700 nm) with high spectral resolution. The smallest spectral variation can be easily monitored thanks to the high spectral resolution (as low as 0.2 nm). This is possible thanks to a combination of an EMCCD and an InGaAs camera with a high resolution spectrometer. An extended number of NPs can be excited with a Ti:Sapphire laser, which provides tunable illumination within 690-1040 nm. Cells and tissues can be mapped in less than 100 ms, allowing in-vivo imaging. As a proof of concept, here we present the preliminary results of the spatial distribution of the fluorescence signal intensity from lanthanide doped nanoparticles incorporated into a system of biological interest. The temperature sub-mm gradient – analyzing the spectral features so gathered through an all-optical route is also thoroughly discussed.
This paper reports on the characterization of nanocrystalline powders of ytterbium doped YLiF4 for applications in optical refrigeration. Here we used powders with nanocrystals of Yb 3+ concentrations of (10, 15, 20) mol % and lengths (70, 66, 96) nm. Our preliminary spectroscopic measurements did not show an enhancement in the absorption at the long-wavelength tail of the spectra of the nanocrystalline powder when compared with bulk Yb:YLiF4, indicating that the increase of the phonon-assisted excitation is not large enough to play a significant role in cooling in the present conditions. One advantage of nanocrystalline powders over bulk crystals is the possibility of enhancing the absorption by the realization of cavity-less pump recycling through photon localization [1]. While photon localization also increases the reabsorption of the fluorescence depending on the quantum efficiency of the material and can mitigate cooling, it allows the use of crystals of low enough concentrations to avoid deleterious effects such as ion-ion energy transfer followed by quenching. The pump intensity enhancement favors upconversion luminescence to visible wavelengths, which can be used for optical refrigeration and extends the scope of the application for the material. We observed both green and blue emission from the samples and investigate the processes which lead to it. We present the experimental investigation of the nanocrystals’ absorption and emission spectra and the first excited state lifetime measurements, which are used to estimate the nanocrystal’s photoluminescence quantum efficiency.
We study the upconversion properties of Ta2O5 and Nb2O5 based TeO2 glasses doped with 0.5 mol% Er2O3 after excitation into the 4I1½ level using 980 nm radiation. Green and red emission is observed originating from the (2H1½, 4S3/2) and 4F9/2 states, respectively. Excited state absorption and energy trasnfer are discussed as possible mechanisms for the upconversion.
Lanthanide doped tellurite glasses containing heavy metals were prepared by the melt/quench technique. The absorption spectra in the visible and in the near infrared were measured and the behavior of the electric dipole oscillator strengths of the lanthanide 4f→4f transitions with the amount of modifier oxide in the glass matrix are discussed. The luminescence spectra in the visible and in the near infrared of the dopants were measured. The stimulated emission cross sections were reported and compared with the ones obtained for oxide glasses of relevant technological applications.
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