Optofluidic chlorophyll lasers

Chen, Yu Cheng; Chen, Qiushu; Fan, Xudong

doi:10.1039/c6lc00512h

Cited by 64 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…A better detector with a larger dynamic range and a narrow band-pass filter can be used to further improve the SNR in the image. Finally, since the laser performance (such as lasing threshold and peak wavelength) depends on the dye concentration 16,43 , the labeling process needs to be standardized. The cavity length may also affect the lasing performance.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, laser emission from biological materials (also known as biolasers [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] ) has demonstrated distinct advantages over fluorescence in terms of signal amplification, narrow linewidth, and strong intensity, as well as the ability to eliminate unwanted fluorescence or scattering background, leading to orders of magnitude increase in detection sensitivity [22][23][24] , SNR 25,26 , and signal-to-background ratio 25,27 . Recently, a plethora of researches have shown the promise of cellular lasers, including cell tracking [28][29][30] , labeling 30,31 , and monitoring 24 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Laser Recording of Subcellular Neuron Activities

Chen

Zhu

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Advances in imaging and recording of neural activities with a single neuron resolution have played a significant role in understanding neurological diseases in the past decade. Conventional methods relying on patch-clamp and electrodes are regarded as invasive, whereas fluorescence-based imaging tools are useful but still suffer from a low signal-to-noise ratio and low sensitivity. Here we developed a novel optical imaging and recording system by employing laser emissions to record the action potentials in single neurons and neuronal networks caused by subtle transients (Ca2+concentration) in primary neuronsin vitrowith a subcellular and single-spike resolution. By recording the laser emissions from neurons, we discovered that lasing emissions could be biologically modulated by intracellular activities and extracellular stimulation with >100-fold improvement in detection sensitivity over traditional fluorescence-based measurement. Finally, we showed that ultrasound can wirelessly activate neurons adsorbed with piezoelectric BaTiO3nanoparticles, in which the neuron laser emissions were modulated by ultrasound. Our findings show that ultrasound stimulation can significantly increase the lasing intensity and neuron network response. This work not only opens the door to laser emission recording of intracellular dynamics in neuronal networks but may provide an ultra-sensitive detection method for brain-on-chip applications, optogenetics, and neuro-analysis.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser Recording of Subcellular Neuron Activities

Chen

Zhu

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…Microlasers have emerged as a promising technology, garnering a tremendous amount of attention owing to its potential for use in biomedical and biological applications . Various types of optical microcavities have been developed, such as Fabry–Perot cavities, photonic crystals, and whispering‐gallery‐modes (WGMs), as implemented in ring resonators, micro‐/nanodisks, and microspheres . In particular, microsphere‐based WGM lasers are appealing candidates for sensing probes owing to their convenience, extremely high Q factor, and potential for application in intracellular and extracellular probes .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lasing‐Encoded Microsensor Driven by Interfacial Cavity Resonance Energy Transfer

Yuan

Wang

Guan

et al. 2020

Advanced Optical Materials

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for use in biomedical and biological applications. [1][2][3][4][5] Various types of optical microcavities have been developed, such as Fabry-Perot cavities, [6][7][8] photonic crystals, [9] and whispering-gallery-modes (WGMs), as implemented in ring resonators, [10][11][12] micro-/nanodisks, [13,14] and microspheres. [3][4][5][15][16][17][18][19][20] In particular, microsphere-based WGM lasers are appealing candidates for sensing probes owing to their convenience, extremely high Q factor, and potential for application in intracellular and extracellular probes. [13,15,16,21,22] Moreover, analytes can be positioned outside of the optical cavity, where an evanescent field exists at the external interface between the resonant cavity and surrounding medium. [23][24][25] At present, most microsphere or droplet-based WGM lasers are considered to be passive-detection devices, as they require physical changes (e.g., refractive indexes) to induce a resonance spectral shift, and thus cannot provide detailed biochemical information. [26][27][28] In contrast, active-detection devices, which employ analytes as the gain medium, can provide more selective and sensitive information about the biospecies. [8,29] Therefore, the ability to utilize a biological gain medium on the external surface of a microsphere cavity will allow us to amplify subtle changes in the gain medium and the resultant spectra, threshold, and lasing modes. However, the overlap factor for the optical mode and gain medium is much lower than the value of the gain within the cavity, and the background fluorescence also interferes with the external cavity sensing, making this amplification a difficult task. Thus, to enable amplification of these subtle changes, we have applied the concept of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) at the interface of a droplet-based laser to separate the donor and acceptor at the droplet-surface interface (Figure 1a). FRET is an electrodynamic phenomenon that is highly sensitive to distance, spectral overlap, and the orientation between donor and acceptor molecules. In the past decade, FRET has been used as a powerful tool for providing nanoscale information in many biosensing applications. The performance of FRET is mainly dependent on the design of the donor and acceptor pairs. Several groups recently utilized FRET by using donor molecules as exciton funnels, [30,31] or light-harvesting antennas, [31] to realize a wavelength tunable laser, [30] single molecule nanoprobes, [32] or light redirectioning devices [33] that strongly amplify the emission of acceptor molecules when Microlasers are emerging tools for biomedical applications. In particular, whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) microlasers are promising candidates for sensing at the biointerface owing to their high quality-factor and potential in molecular assays, and intracellular and extracellular detection. However, lasing particles with sensing functionality remain challenging since the overlap between the WGM optical mode and external gain medium is much lower compared to ...

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“…Recently, the optofluidic laser has been explored in bioanalysis at the molecular [17–23] and cellular level [21,24–26], in which laser emission, rather than spontaneous emission (i.e., fluorescence), is used as the sensing signal. Laser emission has distinct advantages over fluorescence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lasing in blood

Chen

Fan

2016

Optica

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Indocyanine green (ICG) is the only near-infrared dye approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for clinical use. When injected in blood, ICG binds primarily to plasma proteins and lipoproteins, resulting in enhanced fluorescence. Recently, the optofluidic laser has emerged as a novel tool in bio-analysis. Laser emission has advantages over fluorescence in signal amplification, narrow linewidth, and strong intensity, leading to orders of magnitude increase in detection sensitivity and imaging contrast. Here we successfully demonstrate, to the best of our knowledge, the first ICG lasing in human serum and whole blood with the clinical ICG concentrations and the pump intensity far below the clinically permissible level. Furthermore, we systematically study ICG laser emission within each major serological component (albumins, globulins, and lipoproteins) and reveal the critical elements and conditions responsible for lasing. Our work marks a critical step toward eventual clinical and biomedical applications of optofluidic lasers using FDA approved fluorophores, which may complement or even supersede conventional fluorescence-based sensing and imaging.

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Optofluidic chlorophyll lasers

Cited by 64 publications

References 53 publications

Laser Recording of Subcellular Neuron Activities

Laser Recording of Subcellular Neuron Activities

Lasing‐Encoded Microsensor Driven by Interfacial Cavity Resonance Energy Transfer

Lasing in blood

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