Burns are thermal injuries that can completely damage or at least compromise the protective function of skin, and affect the ability of tissues to manage moisture. Burn-damaged tissues exhibit lower elasticity than healthy tissues, due to significantly reduced water concentrations and plasma retention. Current methods for determining burn intensity are limited to visual inspection, and potential hospital x-ray examination. We present a unique confocal microscope capable of measuring Raman and Brillouin spectra simultaneously, with concurrent fluorescence investigation from a single spatial location, and demonstrate application by investigating and characterizing the properties of burn-afflicted tissue on chicken skin model. Raman and Brillouin scattering offer complementary information about a material's chemical and mechanical structure, while fluorescence can serve as a useful diagnostic indicator and imaging tool. The developed instrument has the potential for very diverse analytical applications in basic biomedical science and biomedical diagnostics and imaging.
Nanosecond electric pulses (nsEPs) are known to cause a variety of effects on mammalian cells, ranging from destabilization of cell membranes to changes in cytoskeleton and elastic moduli. Measurement of a cells mechanoelastic properties have previously been limited to only invasive and destructive techniques such as atomic force microscopy or application of optical tweezers. However, due to recent advances, Brillouin spectroscopy has now become viable as a non-contact, non-invasive method for measuring these properties in cells and other materials. Here, we present progress toward applying Brillouin spectroscopy using a unique microscopy system for measuring changes in CHO-K1 cells when exposed to nsEPs of 600ns pulse duration with intensity of 50kV/cm. Successful measurement of mechanoelastic changes in these cells will demonstrate Brillouin spectroscopy as a viable method for measuring changes in elastic properties of other cells and living organisms.
Obesity and overweight are accompanied by an enlargement of adipocytes, which is commonly related to the increasing number or size of lipid droplets within the cells. Some studies have shown that the accumulation of lipid droplets within adipocytes results in their increased stiffness. Recently, Brillouin microspectroscopy has been introduced as a nondestructive method of imaging the elasticity of cells. Unlike other imaging modalities, it is capable of assessing the elastic properties on both tissue- and cell levels. In this study, Brillouin spectroscopy was used to measure the elasticity changes in response to accumulation of lipid droplets within adipocyte during adipogenesis. The cell line used in the study is 3T3-L1, with chemically-induced differentiation from pre-adipocytes to mature adipocytes. The Brillouin shift measurements of the cells before and after differentiation indicate that the stiffness of adipocytes increases due to accumulation of lipid droplets. The results are in agreement with previous atomic force microscopy (AFM) nanoindentation studies. Brillouin microspectroscopy is a technique suitable for measuring the changes of elasticity of adipocytes in response to lipid droplet accumulation.
New approaches for generating coherent light are of great interest due to the increasing demand for unique sources tailored to specific applications. In fields like microscopy, remote sensing, and soft X-ray/XUV lasers this interest is especially pronounced, as novel laser sources would have a profound impact on those technologies. Here, we evaluate the possibility for generating coherent light by inducing collective coherence in the gain medium.
Keys to successful treatment of disease include early diagnosis and timely treatment. It is hypothesized that early clotting events may contribute to a pro-thrombotic state that exacerbates atherothrombotic vascular disease. Brillouin spectroscopy involves inelastic coupling of light with phonons and enables viscoelastic characterization of samples at the microscale. In this work, we apply Brillouin spectroscopy to a model fibrinogen-thrombin clotting system with the goal of measuring clotting dynamics at the microscale and providing characterization that is not possible with standard rheometric techniques. Here, the clotting dynamics of the model clotting system are measured at various fibrinogen and thrombin concentrations.
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.