Development of a New Laparoscopic Detection System for Gastric Cancer Using Near-Infrared Light-Emitting Clips with Glass Phosphor.

Laparoscopic surgery is now a standard treatment for gastric cancer. Currently, the location of the gastric cancer is identified during laparoscopic surgery via the preoperative endoscopic injection of charcoal ink around the primary tumor; however, the wide spread of injected charcoal ink can make it difficult to accurately visualize the specific site of the tumor. To precisely identify the locations of gastric tumors, we developed a fluorescent detection system comprising clips with glass phosphor (Yb3+, Nd3+ doped to Bi2O3-B2O3-based glasses, size: 2 mm × 1 mm × 3 mm) fixed in the stomach and a laparoscopic fluorescent detection system for clip-derived near-infrared (NIR) light (976 nm). We conducted two ex vivo experiments to evaluate the performance of this fluorescent detection system in an extirpated pig stomach and a freshly resected human stomach and were able to successfully detect NIR fluorescence emitted from the clip in the stomach through the stomach wall by the irradiation of excitation light (λ: 808 nm). These results suggest that the proposed combined NIR light-emitting clip and laparoscopic fluorescent detection system could be very useful in clinical practice for accurately identifying the location of a primary gastric tumor during laparoscopic surgery.

Development of a rapid immunoassay system: Luminescent detection of antigen-associated antibody-luciferase in the presence of a dye that absorbs light from free antibody-luciferase.

In this report, we developed a rapid immunoassay system, designated the bioluminescent interference gathering optical (BINGO) assay, which required no time-consuming washing steps for removal of unbound antibodies. This system employed a luciferase (Luc)-conjugated antibody (LucAb) and a dye that absorbed light from the LucAb. The antigen-associated LucAb was localized by transfer of an antigen to the detector-side of a chamber where a detector photomultiplier tube (PMT) was installed. In contrast, the free LucAb was distributed throughout the solution, and the light emitted by the free LucAb was absorbed by the dye. Therefore, only light from LucAb associated with antigen could be detected by the PMT. The new system could be used to rapidly detect the amount of antigen-antibody-Luc complex by collecting steps, such as centrifugation or magnetic collection of antibody-coated magnetic beads. Proof-of-principle experiments were performed using a model system with streptavidin beads and biotinylated Luc. The feasibility of the system was demonstrated using magnetic beads coated with anti-Escherichia coli O157 antibody, enabling detection of 4 × 103 cells in only 15 min. Thus, this system may have applications in a variety of biomedical fields.

Interaction of Nd dopants with broadband emission centers in Bi2O3-B2O3 glass: local energy balance and its influence on optical properties.

Chemical and energetic interactions between broadband infrared intrinsic emission centers (IECs) of bismuthates and extrinsic emission centers (EECs) of Nd2O3 dopants were optically and electronically investigated. Although no visible absorption from the IEC was found in untreated Bi2O3-B2O3 glass, it was clearly observed after a moderate thermal treatment of <200 °C, indicating chemical activity of O-deficient sites as the origin of IECs. On the other hand, Nd2O3 doping chemically stabilized the Bi2O3-B2O3 glass and suppressed IEC formation. By using a microwave measurement sensitive to electric dipoles, we found a 'switching' in local energy balance resulting from the Nd2O3 doping. This was explained by metallization of the O-deficient sites in the Bi2O3-B2O3 glass and multi-phonon excitation of IEC and EEC complexes in the Nd2O3-Bi2O3-B2O3 glass phosphor. Although the electric dipole observed by the microwave measurement was not necessarily caused by IEC, emission properties of the IEC and EEC complexes were consistent with energy balance switching; emissions from IECs after thermal treatment were quenched by EECs with multi-phonon excitation.

First observation of In(x)Ga(1-x)As quantum dots in GaP by spherical-aberration-corrected HRTEM in comparison with ADF-STEM and conventional HRTEM.

In(x)Ga(1-x)As quantum dots in GaP(100) crystals prepared by the OMVPE technique are observed along the [011] direction with a newly developed 200-kV spherical aberration(Cs)-corrected HRTEM, a 200-kV annular dark-field (ADF)-STEM, and a 200-kV conventional HRTEM equipped with a thermal field-emission gun. The dots are 6-10 nm in size and strongly strained due to the misfit of about 9% with the GaP substrate and GaP cap layer. All of the cross-sectional high-resolution electron micrographs show dumbbell images of Ga and P atomic columns separated by 0.136 nm in well-oriented and perfect GaP areas, but the interpretable images are limited to those taken with the Cs-corrected HRTEM and ADF-STEM with Fourier filtering of the images. The Cs-corrected HRTEM and ADF-STEM are comparable from the viewpoint of interpretable resolution. A detailed comparison between the Cs-corrected HRTEM images and the simulated ones with electron incidence tilted by 1 degree to 5 degrees from the [011] zone axis gives information on local lattice bending in the dots from the images around 0.1 nm resolution. This becomes one of the useful techniques newly available from electron microscopy with sub-angstrom resolution.