Recent years have witnessed many breakthroughs in research on graphene (the first two-dimensional atomic crystal) as well as a significant advance in the mass production of this material. This one-atom-thick fabric of carbon uniquely combines extreme mechanical strength, exceptionally high electronic and thermal conductivities, impermeability to gases, as well as many other supreme properties, all of which make it highly attractive for numerous applications. Here we review recent progress in graphene research and in the development of production methods, and critically analyse the feasibility of various graphene applications.

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A roadmap for graphene

Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize cancer diagnosis and therapy. Advances in protein engineering and materials science have contributed to novel nanoscale targeting approaches that may bring new hope to cancer patients. Several therapeutic nanocarriers have been approved for clinical use. However, to date, there are only a few clinically approved nanocarriers that incorporate molecules to selectively bind and target cancer cells. This review examines some of the approved formulations and discusses the challenges in translating basic research to the clinic. We detail the arsenal of nanocarriers and molecules available for selective tumour targeting, and emphasize the challenges in cancer treatment.

Nanocarriers as an emerging platform for cancer therapy

Nanocrystals are fundamental to modern science and technology. Mastery over the shape of a nanocrystal enables control of its properties and enhancement of its usefulness for a given application. Our aim is to present a comprehensive review of current research activities that center on the shape-controlled synthesis of metal nanocrystals. We begin with a brief introduction to nucleation and growth within the context of metal nanocrystal synthesis, followed by a discussion of the possible shapes that a metal nanocrystal might take under different conditions. We then focus on a variety of experimental parameters that have been explored to manipulate the nucleation and growth of metal nanocrystals in solution-phase syntheses in an effort to generate specific shapes. We then elaborate on these approaches by selecting examples in which there is already reasonable understanding for the observed shape control or at least the protocols have proven to be reproducible and controllable. Finally, we highlight a number of applications that have been enabled and/or enhanced by the shape-controlled synthesis of metal nanocrystals. We conclude this article with personal perspectives on the directions toward which future research in this field might take.

Shape‐Controlled Synthesis of Metal Nanocrystals: Simple Chemistry Meets Complex Physics?

We investigated the intracellular uptake of different sized and shaped colloidal gold nanoparticles. We showed that kinetics and saturation concentrations are highly dependent upon the physical dimensions of the nanoparticles (e.g., uptake half-life of 14, 50, and 74 nm nanoparticles is 2.10, 1.90, and 2.24 h, respectively). The findings from this study will have implications in the chemical design of nanostructures for biomedical applications (e.g., tuning intracellular delivery rates and amounts by nanoscale dimensions and engineering complex, multifunctional nanostructures for imaging and therapeutics).

Determining the size and shape dependence of gold nanoparticle uptake into mammalian cells.

The selection of nanoparticles for achieving efficient contrast for biological and cell imaging applications, as well as for photothermal therapeutic applications, is based on the optical properties of the nanoparticles. We use Mie theory and discrete dipole approximation method to calculate absorption and scattering efficiencies and optical resonance wavelengths for three commonly used classes of nanoparticles:  gold nanospheres, silica−gold nanoshells, and gold nanorods. The calculated spectra clearly reflect the well-known dependence of nanoparticle optical properties viz. the resonance wavelength, the extinction cross-section, and the ratio of scattering to absorption, on the nanoparticle dimensions. A systematic quantitative study of the various trends is presented. By increasing the size of gold nanospheres from 20 to 80 nm, the magnitude of extinction as well as the relative contribution of scattering to the extinction rapidly increases. Gold nanospheres in the size range commonly employed (∼40 nm)...

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Calculated Absorption and Scattering Properties of Gold Nanoparticles of Different Size, Shape, and Composition: Applications in Biological Imaging and Biomedicine

The optical properties of two Au−Ag nanobox samples with average edge lengths of 44 and 58 nm and wall thicknesses of 6 and 8 nm, respectively, have been studied by single particle spectroscopy. The measurements gave an average line width of Γ = 306 ± 7 meV with a standard deviation of σ = 30 meV for the 44-nm boxes, and Γ = 350 ± 9 meV with σ = 35 meV for the 58-nm boxes. These line widths are much broader than those of gold nanorods with comparable resonance energies. The increased broadening is attributed to a combination of surface scattering of electrons, as well as increased radiation damping for the nanoboxes. Discrete dipole approximation calculations have been performed with and without surface scattering of electrons to compare with the experimental spectra. The calculations confirm that both electron-surface scattering and radiation damping are important effects in this system.

Optical properties of Au-Ag nanoboxes studied by single nanoparticle spectroscopy.

Summary form only given. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has recently emerged as a powerful imaging technique for biological tissue. OCT can perform real time, in situ imaging of tissue cross-sectional microstructure with micron resolution. The spatial resolution of OCT depends directly on the optical bandwidth and thus on the coherence length of the used light source. Using a femtosecond mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser as a low coherence source, in-vivo imaging of biological tissue has been demonstrated with a spatial resolution below 2 /spl mu/m. We report a spectroscopic OCT approach which detects the full interferometric fringe signal and extracts spectroscopic data from the measurement using Fourier signal processing.

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Spectroscopic optical coherence tomography

Many studies have been performed which compare ex-vivo OCT imaging to histopathology in a wide range of tissues and organ systems. While some tissues, such as arterial pathology or cartilage, are relatively stable post mortem, others, such as epithelial tissues, exhibit rapid degradation. It is important to preserve these tissues with minimal changes in morphology relative to their in vivo state in order to enable meaningful ex vivo OCT imaging studies. In this paper, we investigate the differences between in vivo and ex vivo OCT imaging and the effect of different tissue preservation solutions on tissue degradation and image quality. Ultrahigh resolution OCT imaging was preformed using a Ti:Al2O3 light source with 2 micrometers axial and 5 micrometers transverse resolution, using the hamster cheek pouch as a model for epithelial tissue. Tissue preservation solutions examined included: low temperature saline, room temperature saline, phosphate buffered sucrose, University of Wisconsin solution, and 10% formalin. Results of in vivo versus ex vivo ultrahigh resolution OCT imaging indicate that changes in optical properties and image degradation occur on a rapid time scale (in minutes) for all preservation solutions except formalin.© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Ultrahigh-resolution in-vivo versus ex-vivo OCT imaging and tissue preservation

Cancer is known to alter the local optical properties of tissues. The detection of OCT-based optical attenuation provides a quantitative method to efficiently differentiate cancer from non-cancer tissues. In particular, the intraoperative use of quantitative OCT is able to provide a direct visual guidance in real time for accurate identification of cancer tissues, especially these without any obvious structural layers, such as brain cancer. However, current methods are suboptimal in providing high-speed and accurate OCT attenuation mapping for intraoperative brain cancer detection. In this paper, we report a novel frequency-domain (FD) algorithm to enable robust and fast characterization of optical attenuation as derived from OCT intensity images. The performance of this FD algorithm was compared with traditional fitting methods by analyzing datasets containing images from freshly resected human brain cancer and from a silica phantom acquired by a 1310 nm swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) system. With graphics processing unit (GPU)-based CUDA C/C++ implementation, this new attenuation mapping algorithm can offer robust and accurate quantitative interpretation of OCT images in real time during brain surgery.

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Robust and fast characterization of OCT-based optical attenuation using a novel frequency-domain algorithm for brain cancer detection

We describe a dispersion-free high-speed scanning optical delay line that is suitable for real-time optical coherence tomography, in particular, when an ultrabroadband light source is used. The delay line is based on all-reflective optics consisting of two flat and one curved mirrors. We achieve optical path-length scanning by oscillating one of the two flat mirrors with a resonant galvanometer. The delay line is compact and easy to implement. A total scanning depth of 1.50 mm with an 89% duty ratio, a maximal scanning speed of ∼9.1 m/s, and a 4.1-kHz repetition rate has been demonstrated.

Xingde Li

Papers

Optical properties of Au-Ag nanoboxes studied by single nanoparticle spectroscopy.

Spectroscopic optical coherence tomography

Ultrahigh-resolution in-vivo versus ex-vivo OCT imaging and tissue preservation

Robust and fast characterization of OCT-based optical attenuation using a novel frequency-domain algorithm for brain cancer detection

Rapid scanning all-reflective optical delay line for real-time optical coherence tomography.