Nanolaser Can Perform Medical Procedures Without Damaging Tissue

Researchers have used novel materials to create a nanolaser that can function inside the human body without damaging healthy tissues. (Image source: Northwestern University) Researchers are eyeing next-generation, bio-compatible medical devices to perform complex procedures inside the human body without being majorly invasive. As part of this endeavor, researchers at Northwestern and Columbia Universities have developed a nanolaser that is they say is biocompatible and can function inside living tissues without harming them. The researchers published a paper on their work in the journal Nature Materials. The researchers envision their laser can be used not only for internal medical purposes such as targeted diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer, but also as part of lab-on-a-chip schemes for fast and large-scale molecular characterization, sensing, and synthesis. There are two key aspects of the laser’s design: One is that the laser is comprised mostly of glass, which is an inherently biocompatible material. The other is that it can be excited with longer wavelengths of light and emit at shorter wavelengths. Moreover, the laser is just 50 to 150 nanometers thick, or about 1/1,000th the thickness of a single human hair. This means it can fit and function inside extremely confined spaces – including quantum circuits, microprocessors, and even living tissues, researchers said. Some of the tasks it might perform inside the human bo...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Tags: Design News Source Type: news