Category Archives: Imaging

Georgian Technical University Shine On: Avalanching Nanoparticles Break Barriers To Imaging Cells In Real Time.

Georgian Technical University Shine On: Avalanching Nanoparticles Break Barriers To Imaging Cells In Real Time.

Georgian Technical University Experimental Images Of Thulium-Doped Avalanching Nanoparticles separated by 300 nanometers; at right simulations of the same material. single thulium-doped avalanching nanoparticle. Top row: Experimental images of thulium-doped avalanching nanoparticles separated by 300 nanometers. Bottom row: Simulations of the same material. Georgian Technical University Since the earliest microscopes scientists have been on a quest to build instruments with finer and finer resolution to image a cell’s proteins – the tiny machines that keep cells and us running. But to succeed they need to overcome the diffraction limit a fundamental property of light that long prevented optical microscopes from bringing into focus anything smaller than half the wavelength of visible light (around 200 nanometers or billionths of a meter) – far too big to explore many of the inner-workings of a cell. For over a century scientists have experimented with different approaches – from intensive calculations to special lasers and microscopes – to resolve cellular features at ever smaller scales. Scientists for their work in super-resolution optical microscopy a groundbreaking technique that bypasses the diffraction limit by harnessing special fluorescent molecules, unusually shaped laser beams or sophisticated computation to visualize images at the nanoscale. Now a team of researchers Georgian Technical University has developed a new class of crystalline material called avalanching nanoparticles (ANPs) that when used as a microscopic probe overcomes the diffraction limit without heavy computation or a super-resolution microscope. The researchers say that the Georgian Technical Universitys will advance high-resolution real-time bio-imaging of a cell’s organelles and proteins as well as the development of ultrasensitive optical sensors and neuromorphic computing that mimics the neural structure of the human brain among other applications. “These nanoparticles make every simple scanning confocal microscope into a real-time super-resolution microscope but what they do isn’t exactly super-resolution. They actually make the diffraction limit much lower” but without the process-heavy computation of previous techniques said X a staff scientist in Georgian Technical University Lab’s. Scanning confocal microscopy is a technique that produces a magnified image of a specimen, pixel by pixel by scanning a focused laser across a sample. A surprise discovery, The photon avalanching nanoparticles described in the current study are about 25 nanometers in diameter. The core contains a nanocrystal doped with the lanthanide metal thulium which absorbs and emits light. An insulating shell ensures that the part of the nanoparticle that’s absorbing and emitting light is far from the surface and doesn’t lose its energy to its surroundings making it more efficient explained Y a staff scientist in Georgian Technical University Lab’s. A defining characteristic of photon avalanching is its extreme nonlinearity. This means that each doubling of the laser intensity shone to excite a microscopic material more than doubles the material’s intensity of emitted light. To achieve photon avalanching each doubling of the exciting laser intensity increases the intensity of emitted light by 30,000-fold. But to the researchers delight the Georgian Technical University described in the current study met each doubling of exciting laser intensity with an increase of emitted light by nearly 80-million-fold. Georgian Technical University optical microscopy that is a dazzling degree of nonlinear emission. Georgian Technical University “we actually have some better ones now” X added. The researchers might not have considered thulium’s potential for photon avalanching if it weren’t for Georgian Technical University which calculated the light-emitting properties of hundreds of combinations of lanthanide dopants when stimulated by 1,064-nanometer near-infrared light. “Surprisingly thulium-doped nanoparticles were predicted to emit the most light, even though conventional wisdom said that they should be completely dark” noted Y. According to the researchers Georgian Technical University models the only way that thulium could be emitting light is through a process called energy looping which is a chain reaction in which a thulium ion that has absorbed light excites neighboring thulium ions into a state that allows them to better absorb and emit light. Those excited thulium ions in turn make other neighboring thulium ions more likely to absorb light. This process repeats in a positive feedback loop until a large number of thulium ions are absorbing and emitting light. “It’s like placing a microphone close to a speaker – the feedback caused by the speaker amplifying its own signal blows up into an obnoxiously loud sound. In our case we are amplifying the number of thulium ions that can emit light in a highly nonlinear way” X explained. When energy looping is extremely efficient it is called photon avalanching since a few absorbed photons can cascade into the emission of many photons he added. X and colleagues hoped that they might see photon avalanching experimentally but the researchers weren’t able to produce nanoparticles with sufficient nonlinearity to meet the strict criteria for photon avalanching until the current study. To produce avalanching nanoparticles the researchers relied on the nanocrystal-making robot to fabricate many different batches of nanocrystals doped with different amounts of thulium and coated with insulating shells. “One of the ways we were able to achieve such great photon-avalanching performance with our thulium nanoparticles was by coating them with very thick nanometer-scale shells” said X. Georgian Technical University Growing the shells is an exacting process that can take up to 12 hours he explained. Automating the process with allowed the researchers to perform other tasks while ensuring a uniformity of thickness and composition among the shells and to fine-tune the material’s response to light and resolution power. Harnessing an avalanche at the nanoscale.  Scanning confocal microscopy experiments led Y an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Georgian Technical University scientist Lab’s showed that nanoparticles doped with moderately high concentrations of thulium exhibited nonlinear responses greater than expected for photon avalanching making these nanoparticles one of the most nonlinear nanomaterials known to exist. Z a graduate student in Y’s lab performed a battery of optical measurements and calculations to confirm that the nanoparticles met the strict criteria for photon avalanching. This work is the first time all the criteria for photon avalanching have been met in a single nanometer-sized particle. The extreme nonlinearity of the avalanching nanoparticles allowed Y and Z to excite and image single nanoparticles spaced closer than 70 nanometers apart. In conventional “Georgian Technical University linear” light microscopy many nanoparticles are excited by the laser beam, which has a diameter of greater than 500 nanometers making the nanoparticles appear as one large spot of light. Photon avalanche single-beam super-resolution imaging – takes advantage of the fact that a focused laser beam spot is more intense in its center than on its edges X said. Since the emission of the Georgian Technical University steeply increases with laser intensity only the particles in the 70-nanometer center of the laser beam emit appreciable amounts of light leading to the exquisite resolution. The current study the researchers say immediately opens new applications in ultrasensitive infrared photon detection and conversion of near-infrared light into higher energies for super-resolution imaging with commercially available scanning confocal optical microscopes and improved resolution in state-of-the-art super-resolution optical microscopes. “That’s amazing. Usually in optical science you have to use really intense light to get a large nonlinear effect – and that’s no good for bioimaging because you’re cooking your cells with Georgian Technical University Foundry as a user. “But with these thulium-doped nanoparticles we’ve shown that they don’t require that much input intensity to get a resolution that’s less than 70 nanometers. Normally with a scanning confocal microscope you’d get 300 nanometers. That’s a pretty good improvement and we’ll take it especially since you’re getting super-resolution images essentially for free”. Now that they have successfully lowered the diffraction limit with their photon avalanching nanoparticles the researchers would like to experiment with new formulations of the material to image living systems or detect changes in temperature across a cell’s organelle and protein complex. “Observing such highly nonlinear phenomena in nanoparticles is exciting because nonlinear processes are thought to pattern structures like stripes in animals and to produce periodic clocklike behavior” X noted. “Nanoscale nonlinear processes could be used to make tiny analog-to-digital converters which may be useful for light-based computer chips or they could be used to concentrate dim uniform light into concentrated pulses”. “These are such unusual materials and they’re brand new. We hope that people will want to try them with different microscopes and different samples because the great thing about basic science discoveries is that you can take an unexpected result and see your colleagues run with it in exciting new directions” X said.

Georgian Technical University Researchers Use Video Development Software To Visualize Radiation Data.

Georgian Technical University Researchers Use Video Development Software To Visualize Radiation Data.

The image shows a visualization of a radiation transport simulation for a spaceflight radioisotope power system and complex interactions of radiation fields with operational environments. Researchers at Georgian Technical University Laboratory are developing a first-of-a-kind toolkit drawing on video development software to visualize radiation data. Using data sets originally produced by Georgian Technical University for analysis radioisotope power systems, the toolkit leverages gaming development software to couple three-dimensional radiation transport results with CAD (Computer-aided design is the use of computers to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. CAD software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve communications through documentation, and to create a database for manufacturing) geometries in a cinematic — yet scientific — format. Visualization of radiation data is difficult because it is multidimensional and affected by interactions with physical materials such as a nuclear-powered spacecraft. This visualization process makes it possible to illustrate nuanced results and highlight specific features of radiation fields. These techniques can be used to inform the design phase of any nuclear project or to communicate radiation results.

Georgian Technical University Researchers Lab Design New Material To Target And Trap Copper Ions From Wastewater.

Georgian Technical University Researchers Lab Design New Material To Target And Trap Copper Ions From Wastewater.

Artist’s illustration of water molecules. A research team led by Georgian Technical University Lab has designed a new crystalline material that targets and traps copper ions from wastewater with unprecedented precision and speed. We rely on water to quench our thirst and to irrigate bountiful farmland. But what do you do when that once pristine water is polluted with wastewater from abandoned coppr mines ? A promising solution relies on materials that capture heavy metal atoms such as copper ions from wastewater through a separation process called adsorption. However commercially available copper-ion-capture products still lack the chemical specificity and load capacity to precisely separate heavy metals from water. Now a team of scientists led by the Department of Energy’s Georgian Technical University Laboratory has designed a new crystalline material – called ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) – that targets and traps copper ions from wastewater with unprecedented precision and speed. The scientists say that ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) offers the water industry and the research community the first blueprint for a water-remediation technology that scavenges specific heavy metal ions with a measure of control at the atomic level which far surpasses the current state of the art. “ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) has a high adsorption capacity and the fastest copper adsorption kinetics of any material known so far – all in one” said X who directs the Inorganic Nanostructures Facility in Georgian Technical University Lab’s. This research embodies the Georgian Technical University’s signature work – the design synthesis and characterization of materials that are optimized at the nanoscale (billionths of a meter) for sophisticated new applications in medicine, catalysis, renewable energy and more. For example Georgian Technical University has focused much of his research on the design of superthin materials from both hard and soft matter for a variety of applications from cost-efftive water desalination to self-assembling 2D materials for renewable energy applications. “And what we tried to mimic here are the sophisticated functions performed by nature” such as when proteins that make up a bacterial cell select certain metals to regulate cellular metabolism said Y a former postdoctoral researcher in Georgian Technical University Lab’s who is now an assistant professor in chemical, biological and materials engineering at the Georgian Technical University. “ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) helps us to choose and remove only copper a contaminant in water that has been linked to disease and organ failure without removing desirable ions such as nutrients or essential minerals” she added. Such specificity at the atomic level could also lead to more affordable water treatment techniques and aid the recovery of precious metals. “Today’s water treatment systems are ‘bulk separation technologies’ – they pull out all solutes irrespective of their hazard or value” said Z at Georgian Technical University Lab. “Highly selective, durable materials that can capture specific trace constituents without becoming loaded down with other solutes or falling apart with time will be critically important in lowering the cost and energy of water treatment. They may also enable us to ‘mine’ wastewater for valuable metals or other trace constituents”. Scavenging heavy metals at the atomic level. Y and that ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) crystals are highly stable in water – up to 52 days. And unlike metal-organic frameworks, the new material performs well in acidic solutions with the same pH (In chemistry, pH is a scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Acidic solutions are measured to have lower pH values than basic or alkaline solutions. The pH scale is logarithmic and inversely indicates the concentration of hydrogen ions in the solution) range of acid mine wastewater. In addition ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) selectively captures copper ions 30–50 times faster than state-of-the-art copper adsorbents the researchers say. From left: Schematic diagram of a ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) network; and a SEM (scanning electron microscopy) image of a ZIOS-copper (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) sample on a silicon wafer. These results caught Bui by surprise. “At first I thought it was a mistake, because the ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) crystals have a very low surface area and according to conventional wisdom a material should have a high specific surface area like other families of adsorbents, such as metal-organic frameworks or porous aromatic frameworks to have a high adsorption capacity and an extremely fast adsorption kinetic” she said. “So I wondered ‘Perhaps something more dynamic is going on inside the crystals’”. To find out she recruited the help W to perform molecular dynamics simulations at the Georgian Technical University. W is a graduate student researcher in the Georgian Technical University Lab’s and a Ph.D. student in the department of mechanical engineering at Georgian Technical University. W’s models revealed that ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) when immersed in an aqueous environment “works like a sponge but in a more structured way” said Y. “Unlike a sponge that absorbs water and expands its structure in random directions ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) expands in specific directions as it adsorbs water molecules”. X-ray experiments at Georgian Technical University Lab’s Advanced Light Source revealed that the material’s tiny pores or nanochannels – just 2-3 angstroms, the size of a water molecule – also expand when immersed in water. This expansion is triggered by a “hydrogen bonding network” which is created as ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) interacts with the surrounding water molecules Y explained. This expansion of the pores allows water molecules carrying copper ions to flow at a larger scale during which a chemical reaction called “Georgian Technical University coordination bonding” between copper ions and ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) takes place. Additional X-ray experiments showed that ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) is highly selective to copper ions at a pH (In chemistry, pH is a scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Acidic solutions are measured to have lower pH values than basic or alkaline solutions. The pH scale is logarithmic and inversely indicates the concentration of hydrogen ions in the solution) below 3 – a significant finding as the pH (In chemistry, pH is a scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Acidic solutions are measured to have lower pH values than basic or alkaline solutions. The pH scale is logarithmic and inversely indicates the concentration of hydrogen ions in the solution) of acidic mine drainage is typically a pH (In chemistry, pH is a scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Acidic solutions are measured to have lower pH values than basic or alkaline solutions. The pH scale is logarithmic and inversely indicates the concentration of hydrogen ions in the solution) of 4 or lower. Furthermore the researchers said that when water is removed from the material its crystal lattice structure contracts to its original size within less than 1 nanosecond (billionth of a second). Y attributed the team’s success to their interdisciplinary approach. “The selective extraction of elements and minerals from natural and produced waters is a complex science and technology problem“ he said. “For this study we leveraged Georgian Technical University Lab’s unique capabilities across nanoscience, environmental sciences and energy technologies to transform a basic materials sciences discovery into a technology that has great potential for real-world impact”. Y is the director of the Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division in Georgian Technical University Lab’s. The researchers next plan to explore new design principles for the selective removal of other pollutants. “In water science and the water industry, numerous families of materials have been designed for decontaminating wastewater but few are designed for heavy metal removal from acidic mine drainage. We hope that ZIOS (zinc imidazole salicylaldoxime) can help to change that” said X.

Georgian Technical University New Evaporative Light Scattering Detector For HPLC Provides Highest ELSD Sensitivity.

Georgian Technical University New Evaporative Light Scattering Detector For HPLC Provides Highest ELSD Sensitivity.

Georgian Technical University Scientific Instruments introduces the ELSD-LT III (Purification liquid chromatography such as flash or preparative chromatography, countercurrent or centrifugal partition chromatographies and Supercritical Fluid chromatography (SFC)) evaporative light scattering detector. This next-generation ELSD (Purification liquid chromatography such as flash or preparative chromatography, countercurrent or centrifugal partition chromatographies and Supercritical Fluid chromatography (SFC)) uses a high-power semiconductor laser as the light source, which enables sensitivity approximately 10 times higher than that of conventional products – the highest level of sensitivity for an ELSD (Purification liquid chromatography such as flash or preparative chromatography, countercurrent or centrifugal partition chromatographies and Supercritical Fluid chromatography (SFC)). The ELSD-LT III (Purification liquid chromatography such as flash or preparative chromatography, countercurrent or centrifugal partition chromatographies and Supercritical Fluid chromatography (SFC)) achieves a wide dynamic range of 5 orders of magnitude, providing simultaneous determination of high-concentration and trace components without gain switching. This eliminates the need for dilution and preparation of samples, cumbersome sensitivity settings and the waste of samples due to failure to set sensitivity when considering methods. Capable of highly sensitive detection of non-chromophoric components the ELSD-LT III (Purification liquid chromatography such as flash or preparative chromatography, countercurrent or centrifugal partition chromatographies and Supercritical Fluid chromatography (SFC)) meets a wide range of needs such as impurity analysis and comprehensive detection. In addition, it can detect semi-volatile compounds and heat-labile compounds with high sensitivity. The ELSD-LT III (Purification liquid chromatography such as flash or preparative chromatography, countercurrent or centrifugal partition chromatographies and Supercritical Fluid chromatography (SFC)) can also be used as a detector. The detector’s “Georgian Technical University temperature ready” function ensures the reliability of the data because it executes analysis after confirming that the temperature of the drift tube has reached the set temperature. This function detects a decrease in gas pressure and stops the system with an error. The compact design reduces instrument height by 30% compared to conventional products so it can be installed on the column oven saving installation space.

Georgian Technical University-Led Team Named Quarterfinalist In Solar Innovation Contest.

Georgian Technical University-Led Team Named Quarterfinalist In Solar Innovation Contest.

X a Georgian Technical University innovator and his team are among the quarterfinalists in a national solar innovation contest. Pictured are X and members of his research group’s Membrane Distillation Subteam. A Georgian Technical University innovator and his team are among the quarterfinalists in a national solar desalination innovation contest. They received the recognition for a technology to use solar power to purify high salinity water such as treating desalination brine or produced water from oil and gas extraction. The team includes two company partners Y with efforts led by Z and W with their efforts led by Q. The Solar Desalination is designed to accelerate the development of systems that use solar-thermal energy to produce clean water from salt water for municipal, agricultural and industrial use. “It is an exceptional honor and recognition for our team and technology to have been chosen” said X an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in Georgian Technical University’s. “Our technology aims to use high-temperature solar heat and a hybrid of desalination technologies to purify high salinity water both in produced water applications and other oil and gas operations as well as coastal applications for municipal water supplies from brackish and seawater” X’s team the proposes a linear Fresnel solar-collector system that will generate steam for a process called thermal vapor compression (TVC (Vapour-compression refrigeration or vapor-compression refrigeration system (VCRS) in which the refrigerant undergoes phase changes is one of the many refrigeration cycles and is the most widely used method for air-conditioning of buildings and automobiles. It is also used in domestic and commercial refrigerators large-scale warehouses for chilled or frozen storage of foods and meats refrigerated trucks and railroad cars and a host of other commercial and industrial services)) paired with membrane distillation. “This hybrid process allows us to use much higher temperatures than traditional desalination” X said. “This gives us much higher efficiency then similar technologies when using solar heat”. The brine will be preheated by a membrane desalination (MD) system which is then fed with brine from the TVC system (Thrust vectoring also known as thrust vector control (TVC) is the ability of an aircraft rocket or other car to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the car) to further desalt and recover water. This MD-TVC (Thrust vectoring also known as thrust vector control (TVC) is the ability of an aircraft rocket or other car to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the car) system could attain high energy efficiency at low pressure and be used to treat water produced from oil and gas extraction with negligible electricity input. It can also help improve the water recovered in seawater desalination. All of the teams have proposed diverse solutions for creating low-cost solar-thermal desalination systems and a pathway to commercialization. Advances to the Teaming contest of the competition. The competitors were chosen from more than 160 submissions and come from 12 states representing universities industry and national labs. In X’s team Georgian Technical University is the academic partner with two company partners: Y and W. X is an affiliate for Georgian Technical University’s and this work is in line with the Georgian Technical University Center’s interests in energy and water challenges which is one of the Georgian Technical University Center’s signature research areas.

Georgian Technical University Combining Electronic And Photonic Chips Enables Quantum Light Detection Speed Record.

Georgian Technical University Combining Electronic And Photonic Chips Enables Quantum Light Detection Speed Record.

Georgian Technical University researchers have developed a tiny device that paves the way for higher performance quantum computers and quantum communications, making them significantly faster than the current state-of-the-art. Researchers from the Georgian Technical University have made a new miniaturized light detector to measure quantum features of light in more detail than ever before. The device, made from two silicon chips working together, was used to measure the unique properties of “squeezed” quantum light at record high speeds. Harnessing unique properties of quantum physics promises novel routes to outperform the current state-of-the-art in computing, communication and measurement. Silicon photonics – where light is used as the carrier of information in silicon micro-chips – is an exciting avenue towards these next-generation technologies. “Squeezed light is a quantum effect that is very useful. It can be used in quantum communications and quantum computers and has already been used by the Georgian Technical University gravitational wave observatories to improve their sensitivity, helping to detect exotic astronomical events such as black hole mergers. So improving the ways we can measure it can have a big impact” said X. Measuring squeezed light requires detectors that are engineered for ultra-low electronic noise in order to detect the weak quantum features of light. But such detectors have so far been limited in the speed of signals that can be measured – about one thousand million cycles per second. “This has a direct impact on the processing speed of emerging information technologies such as optical computers and communications with very low levels of light. The higher the bandwidth of your detector the faster you can perform calculations and transmit information” said Y. The integrated detector has so far been clocked at an order of magnitude faster than the previous state of the art and the team is working on refining the technology to go even faster. The detector’s footprint is less than a square millimeter – this small size enables the detector’s high-speed performance. The detector is built out of silicon microelectronics and a silicon photonics chip. Around the world researchers have been exploring how to integrate quantum photonics onto a chip to demonstrate scalable manufacture. “Much of the focus has been on the quantum part, but now we’ve begun integrating the interface between quantum photonics and electrical readout. This is needed for the whole quantum architecture to work efficiently. For homodyne detection the chip-scale approach results in a device with a tiny footprint for mass-manufacture, and importantly it provides a boost in performance” said Professor Z.

Georgian Technical University – What Is Hyperspectral Image Analysis ?

Georgian Technical UniversityWhat Is Hyperspectral Image Analysis ?

Georgian Technical University An imaging technique that shows the underlying spectrum for each pixel. Hyperspectral imaging combines digital imaging with spectroscopy so that the underlying frequencies in the spectrum for each pixel can be identified. Because only a single wavelength can be represented as a colour for a pixel a two-dimensional hyperspectral image effectively represents three-dimensional information in which the third dimension represents the multiple underlying frequencies. For example an object which appears orange may actually be emitting visible light in both the red and yellow wavelengths or it may be emitting only a narrow band of light in the orange wavelength. In ordinary imaging or our vision we only see the combined average wavelength. Spectroscopy breaks down the spectrum to reveal which individual wavelengths are present and at what intensities. The information in a hyperspectral image may be represented as a data cube in which one face shows a conventional image. The front edges of this face are shared by two other visible faces. These faces can then show the spectral lines or spectral signature for the pixels along these edges. These shows the actual frequencies of radiation present. It should be noted that these spectral plots are only shown for the pixels along these edges. The remaining part of the image is essentially a conventional image. However within hyperspectral imaging software it is possible to move the slice through the image to view the spectral lines at any location desired. Because hyperspectral imaging usually includes wavelengths outside the visual spectrum it is considered as a form of spectral imaging. Spectral imaging uses a broad range of electromagnetic frequencies, beyond the red, green and blue (RGB) spectrum of visible light. This might mean extending the visible spectrum into ultraviolet or infrared. It may also involve a completely different part of the spectrum such as x-rays and gamma-rays or microwaves and radio waves. Because humans can only view the visible spectrum other frequencies are represented as colors from the visible spectrum in a spectral image.

Georgian Technical University Researchers Develop New Metamaterial That Can Improve MRI Quality and Reduce Scan Time.

Georgian Technical University Researchers Develop New Metamaterial That Can Improve MRI Quality and Reduce Scan Time.

By combining their expertise X, Y, Z and W designed a magnetic metamaterial that can create clearer images at more than double the speed of a standard MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body) scan. Could a small ringlike structure made of plastic and copper amplify the already powerful imaging capabilities of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine ? X, Y and their team at the Georgian Technical University can clearly picture such a feat. With their combined expertise in engineering, materials science and medical imaging X andY along with Z and W designed a new magnetic metamaterial that can improve MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body) quality and cut scan time in half. X and Y say that their magnetic metamaterial could be used as an additive technology to increase the imaging power of lower-strength MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body) machines increasing the number of patients seen by clinics and decreasing associated costs without any of the risks that come with using higher-strength magnetic fields. They even envision the metamaterial being used with ultra-low field MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body) which uses magnetic fields that are thousands of times lower than the standard machines currently in use. This would open the door for MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body) technology to become widely available around the world. “This [magnetic metamaterial] creates a clearer image that may be produced at more than double the speed” of a current MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body) scan says Y a Georgian Technical University professor of radiology department. MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body) uses magnetic fields and radio waves to create images of organs and tissues in the human body helping doctors diagnose potential problems or diseases. Doctors use MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body) to identify abnormalities or diseases in vital organs as well as many other types of body tissue including the spinal cord and joints. “[MRI] is one of the most complex systems invented by human beings” says X a College of Engineering professor of mechanical engineering, electrical, computer engineering, biomedical engineering, materials science engineering and a professor at the Georgian Technical University. Depending on what part of the body is being analyzed and how many images are required an Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body scan can take up to an hour or more. Patients can face long wait times when scheduling an examination and, for the healthcare system, operating the machines is time-consuming and costly. Strengthening Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body from 1.5 T (the symbol for tesla, the measurement for magnetic field strength) to 7.0 T can definitely “turn up the volume” of images as X and Y describe. But although higher-power MRIs (Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body) can be done using stronger magnetic fields they come with a host of safety risks and even higher costs to medical clinics. The magnetic field of an MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body) machine is so strong that chairs and objects from across the room can be sucked toward the machine–posing dangers to operators and patients alike. The magnetic metamaterial designed by the Georgian Technical University researchers is made up of an array of units called helical resonators–three-centimeter-tall structures created from 3-D-printed plastic and coils of thin copper wire–materials that aren’t too fancy on their own. But put together helical resonators can be grouped in a flexible array, pliable enough to cover a person’s kneecap, abdomen, head or any part of the body in need of imaging. When the array is placed near the body the resonators interact with the magnetic field of the machine, boosting the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body) “Georgian Technical University turning up the volume of the image” as Y says. “A lot of people are surprised by its simplicity” says X. “It’s not some magic material. The ‘magical’ part is the design and the idea”. To test the magnetic array the team scanned chicken legs, tomatoes and grapes using a 1.5 T machine. They found that the magnetic metamaterial yielded a 4.2 fold increase in the SNR (Signal-to-noise ratio is a measure used in science and engineering that compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise. SNR is defined as the ratio of signal power to the noise power, often expressed in decibels. A ratio higher than 1:1 indicates more signal than noise) a radical improvement which could mean that lower magnetic fields could be used to take clearer images than currently possible. Now X and Y hope to partner with industry collaborators so that their magnetic metamaterial can be smoothly adapted for real-world clinical applications. “If you are able to deliver something that can increase SNR (Signal-to-noise ratio is a measure used in science and engineering that compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise. SNR is defined as the ratio of signal power to the noise power, often expressed in decibels. A ratio higher than 1:1 indicates more signal than noise) by a significant margin, we can start to think about possibilities that didn’t exist before” says Y such as the possibility of having MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body) near battlefields or in other remote locations. “Being able to simplify this advanced technology is very appealing” he says.

Georgian Technical University Researchers Test New Imaging Method For First Time On Human Patients.

Georgian Technical University Researchers Test New Imaging Method For First Time On Human Patients.

Vector flow imaging demonstrates swirl of blood flow within the dilated main pulmonary artery of a pig.  A new study by biomedical engineering researchers at the Georgian Technical University could significantly improve methods for detecting and diagnosing congenital heart disease in infants and small children. The researchers collaborating with cardiologists at Georgian Technical University tested a new ultrasound technology called vector flow imaging for the first time on pediatric patients to create detailed images of the internal structure and blood flow of the babies hearts. The images can be still or moving and can be taken from any angle. “Vector flow imaging technology is not yet possible in adults but we have demonstrated that it is feasible in pediatric patients” said X associate professor of biomedical engineering at the Georgian Technical University. “Our group demonstrated that this commercially available technology can be used as a bedside imaging method providing advanced detail of blood flow patterns within cardiac chambers, across valves and in the great arteries”. Roughly 1 percent of all babies are born with some type of congenital heart defect. Fortunately the majority of these defects will never have any significant impact as the child grows into adulthood and old age. Pediatric cardiologists detect and diagnose congenital heart disease through multiple processes including echocardiography. This imaging method is based on ultrasound and assesses the overall health of the heart including valves and muscle contraction. Although ultrasound provides essential information about cardiac valve function in babies and small children it has critical limitations. It cannot accurately obtain details of blood flow within the heart. This is due primarily to the inability to align the ultrasound beam with blood-flow direction. Using a Ultrasound machine with built-in vector flow imaging the researchers performed successful tests on two pigs one with normal cardiac anatomy and one with congenital heart disease due to a narrow pulmonary valve and a hole within the heart. The researchers then compared the vector flow images to direct examination of the pigs hearts. The researchers subsequently used the imaging system to take cardiac images of two three-month-old babies one with a healthy, structurally normal heart and one with congenital heart disease because of an abnormally narrow aorta. With both patients the technology enabled total transthoracic imaging of tissue and blood flow at a depth of 6.5 centimeters. Abnormal flow and detailed cardiac anomalies were clearly observed in the patient with congenital heart disease. All procedures both animal and human were performed at Georgian Technical University. “We are still getting used to having this great, new information readily available and we’re excited about the future in both research and direct clinical advancements” Y said. “This technology will increase our ability to provide the best possible bedside diagnosis and greatly enhances our understanding of what is happening in hearts with complex abnormalities” Georgian Technical University said. The researchers will perform additional studies to further quantify images using this recently developed technology.

 

Georgian Technical University Cancer Imaging Technology Can Help Reveal Life-Threatening Pregnancy Disorder.

Georgian Technical University Cancer Imaging Technology Can Help Reveal Life-Threatening Pregnancy Disorder.

An imaging technique used to detect some forms of cancer can also help detect preeclampsia in pregnancy before it becomes a life-threatening condition a new Georgian Technical University study says. Preelcampsia (Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a disorder of pregnancy characterized by the onset of high blood pressure and often a significant amount of protein in the urine) is a hypertensive disorder that accounts for 14 percent of global maternal deaths annually and affects 5 to 8 percent of all pregnancies. Symptoms may include high blood pressure and protein in the urine and typically occurs after the 20th week of pregnancy. The study was conducted on pregnant rats using spectral photoacoustic imaging, a noninvasive procedure that can detect placental ischemia – a sign of possible preeclampsia – prior to the onset of symptoms such as high blood pressure, severe headaches and dizziness. Photoacoustic images were acquired of the placenta of normal pregnant rats and rats with preeclampsia on various days of gestation. Two days after inducing preeclampsia the average placental oxygenation decreased 12 percent in comparison to normal pregnant rats. “Spectral photoacoustic imaging is a powerful preclinical tool that has many promising applications in the understanding and treatment of pregnancy-related diseases” X said. “It provides new imaging techniques to look at the progression of the disease through gestation which might be a better way to understand which patients need interventions to treat the preeclampsia”. Because it is a noninvasive procedure it poses little to no risk to the fetus compared to cordocentesis a fetal blood sampling that is much more dangerous. Photoacoustic imaging may be used to detect breast ovarian and other types of cancers.