To eradicate any cancer cells that may potentially remain after surgery or chemotherapy, many breast cancer patients also undergo radiation therapy. All patients experience unfortunate side effects including skin irritation, and sometimes peeling and blistering. Patients can also develop permanent discoloration of the skin and thickening of the breast tissue months, or even years, after…
A Fine-Tuned Microscopy Technique Offers Breakthrough Imaging of Melanoma
Cheap Lab-on-a-Chip Conducts Quick Medical Tests
A new fabrication process could make it easier and less expensive to incorporate optical sensing onto lab-on-a-chip devices. These devices integrate laboratory functions onto a plastic or glass “chip” typically no more than a few square centimeters in size, allowing automated testing in the doctor’s office or various types of chemical or biological analysis with…
Plasmonic Device Offers Broadband Modulation to Optical Links at 100gbit/s
Laser-Generated Bubbles Create 3-D Images in Liquid
Researchers have developed a completely new type of display that creates 3D images by using a laser to form tiny bubbles inside a liquid “screen.” Instead of rendering a 3D scene on a flat surface, the display itself is three-dimensional, a property known as volumetric. This allows viewers to see a 3D image in the…
Low-Cost Imaging System Detects Natural Gas Leaks In Real Time
Researchers have developed an infrared imaging system that could one day offer low-cost, real-time detection of methane gas leaks in pipelines and at oil and gas facilities. Leaks of methane, the primary component of natural gas, can be costly and dangerous while also contributing to climate change as a greenhouse gas. “Despite methane gas being…
Novel Liquid Crystal Could Triple Sharpness of Today’s Televisions
An international team of researchers has developed a new blue-phase liquid crystal that could enable televisions, computer screens and other displays that pack more pixels into the same space while also reducing the power needed to run the device. The new liquid crystal is optimized for field-sequential color liquid crystal displays (LCDs), a promising technology…
Sensor Detects Inflammatory Bowel Disease During Colonoscopy
Researchers have developed the first sensor capable of objectively identifying inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and distinguishing between its two subtypes. The device represents a substantial achievement toward a more personalized approach to diagnosing and treating IBD, a chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract affecting more than 1 million Americans. Current diagnostic and treatment procedures for…
New Microscope Chemically Identifies Micron-Sized Particles
Researchers have developed a microscope that can chemically identify individual micron-sized particles. The new approach could one day be used in airports or other high-security venues as a highly sensitive and low-cost way to rapidly screen people for microscopic amounts of potentially dangerous materials. In the journal Optics Letters, from The Optical Society (OSA), researchers from the Massachusetts…
Ultra-small Nanocavity Advances Technology for Secure Quantum-Based Data Encryption
Researchers have developed a new type of light-enhancing optical cavity that is only 200 nanometers tall and 100 nanometers across. Their new nanoscale system represents a step toward brighter single-photon sources, which could help propel quantum-based encryption and a truly secure and future-proofed network. Quantum encryption techniques, which are seen as likely to be central…
Researchers Create Hidden Images with Commercial Inkjet Printers
Researchers have developed a way to use commercial inkjet printers and readily available ink to print hidden images that are only visible when illuminated with appropriately polarized waves in the terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The inexpensive method could be used as a type of invisible ink to hide information in otherwise normal-looking images,…
Innovative Technique to Curtail Illegal Copying of Digital Media
In today’s digital world it can be challenging to prevent photos, videos and books from being illegally copied and distributed. A new light-based technique is making it more practical to create secure, invisible watermarks that can be used to detect and prosecute counterfeiting. “In our research, we use a complex pattern of light, or diffraction…
Optical Clock Technology Tested in Space for First Time
For the first time, an optical clock has traveled to space, surviving harsh rocket launch conditions and successfully operating under the microgravity that would be experienced on a satellite. This demonstration brings optical clock technology much closer to implementation in space, where it could eventually allow GPS-based navigation with centimeter-level location precision. In The Optical…
Researchers Bring Eyewear-Free 3D Capabilities to Small Screen
Solving The Problem of Glare
Innovative New Method for Dye Removal, Inexpensive Water Purification
Organic compounds in wastewater, such as dyes and pigments in industry effluents, are toxic or have lethal effect on aquatic living and humans. Increasing evidence has shown that the organic contaminants discharged from electroplating, textile production, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals are the main reasons for the higher morbidity rates of kidney, liver, and bladder cancers, etc. Organic…
Nanoscale Details of DNA Revealed with Innovative Imaging Method
Researchers have developed a new enhanced DNA imaging technique that can probe the structure of individual DNA strands at the nanoscale. Since DNA is at the root of many disease processes, the technique could help scientists gain important insights into what goes wrong when DNA becomes damaged or when other cellular processes affect gene expression.…