Hydrophobic optical elements for near-field optical analysis (NOA) in liquid environment--a preliminary study.

Near-field Scanning Optical Microscopy (NSOM) in liquid environment is expected to allow time resolved morphological mappings on cellular surfaces on the nanoscale level. Near-field Optical Analysis (NOA) via NSOM exploits the energy transfer from the tip of an optical element (tip diameter > or = 20nm), oscillating within the range of the characteristic length of the energy transfer ( approximately 10nm) in the near-field of the surface to be analysed. In NOA, a molecular assembly is monitored by visible light with a resolution far below the wavelength of visible light. Actually, NOA is successfully applied in mapping local optical contrasts, for instance in photonic crystals with dielectric periodicities on the nanoscale. NSOM could in principle be performed in two different modes: tapping mode, with tip-oscillations perpendicular, or shear force mode, with tip-oscillations parallel to the substrate. Both basic modes have specific advantages and disadvantages. In biological systems (e.g. in cell cultures), where scanning in liquids is prevalent, elongated optical elements non-invasively operated in the shear force modus could have some specific advantages when compared to contact modus systems. While tapping mode NSOM provides satisfactory nanoscale images even on solid surfaces covered with millimetres of liquids, the performance of shear force mode NSOM is presently largely confined to operations on dry samples. This is due to the inability of conventional shear force mode NSOM systems to provide sharp topographic images of sample surfaces substantially covered with liquids. By equipping a conventional NSOM system with hydrophobic optical elements, shear force mode based topographic images could be obtained on biological samples in dry as well as in aqueous environment, and with resolutions on the nanoscale level.

Biostimulatory windows in low-intensity laser activation: lasers, scanners, and NASA's light-emitting diode array system.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess and to formulate physically an irreducible set of irradiation parameters that could be relevant in the achieving reproducible light-induced effects in biological systems, both in vitro and in vivo. BACKGROUND DATA: Light-tissue interaction studies focusing on the evaluation of irradiation thresholds are basic for the extensively growing applications for medical lasers and related light-emitting systems. These thresholds are of central interest in the rejuvenation of collagens, photorefractive keratectomy, and wound healing. METHODS: There is ample evidence that the action of light in biological systems depends at least on two threshold parameters: the energy density and the intensity. Depending on the particular light delivery system coupled to an irradiation source, the mean energy density and the local intensity have to be determined separately using adequate experimental methods. RESULTS: From the observations of different research groups and our own observations, we conclude that the threshold parameters energy density and intensity are biologically independent from each other. CONCLUSIONS: This independence is of practical importance, at least for the medical application of photobiological effects achieved at low-energy density levels, accounting for the success and the failure in most of the cold laser uses since Mester's pioneering work.

[Light-induced control of polymerization shrinkage of dental composites by generating temporary hardness gradients]. / Lichtinduzierte Steuerung der Polymerisationsschrumpfung von Dental-Kompositen durch die Erzeugung temporärer Härtegradienten.

Irradiation of light-curing dental filling materials in a single direction results in a temporary hardness gradient in the direction of the irradiation. The photoactivated polymerisation process begins at the site of the highest light intensity. In the simplest possible model, the polymerizing composites irradiated in a single direction shows three adjacent co-existing phases: an almost hardened, a gelled and a still plastic phase. As long as all three phases are present, any shrinking of the contracting phases can be compensated by the plastic phase. A knowledge of the distribution of these phases and their spatial and temporal modulation by the selection of suitable curing light parameters provides simple techniques for reducing shrinkage gaps around voluminous fillings in large dental cavities.

Free energy reduction by molecular interface crossing: novel mechanism for the transport of material across the interface of nanoscale droplets induced by competing intermolecular forces for application in perfluorocarbon blood substitutes.

Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are inert liquids which can dissolve--and release--approximately 50 times more oxygen than blood plasma. Oxygen carriers based on PFCs are easy to produce, free of biological components, and more rigorously sterilizable than blood. PFCs injected into the body are eliminated by expiration through the lungs. Before reaching the lungs, PFCs accumulate in storage organs such as liver and spleen. In these organs nanoscale PFC droplets reduce their free energy by unifying to microscopic drops, thus indirectly lowering the rate of their expiration. The model of free energy reduction by molecular interface crossing (FERMIC), a novel emulsion breaking mechanism derived from first principles as presented here, leads to a better understanding of the structure formation processes relevant in perfluorocarbons (PFCs) in vivo.