Bio-inspired spherical compound eye camera for simultaneous wide-band and large field of view imaging.

Natural compound eyes have excellent optical characteristics, namely large field of view, small size, no aberration, and sensitive to motion. Some arthropods have more powerful vision. For example, the Morpho butterfly's compound eyes can perceive the near-infrared and ultraviolet light that the human eye cannot see. This wide-band imaging with a large field of view has great potential in wide-area surveillance, all-weather panoramic imaging, and medical imaging. Hence, a wide-band spherical compound eye camera inspired by the Morpho butterfly's eye was proposed. The wide-band spherical compound eye camera which can achieve a large field of view (360° × 171°) imaging over a wide range of wavelengths from 400nm to 1000nm, mainly consists of three parts: a wide-band spherical compound eye with 234 sub-eyes for light collection, a wide-band optical relay system for light transmission, and a wide-band CMOS image sensor for photoelectric conversion. Our experimental results show that the wide-band spherical compound eye camera not only captures a large field of view without anomalous blurring or aberrations but also perceives near-infrared light that is not recognized by the human eye. These features make it possible for distortion-free panoramic vision and panoramic medical diagnosis.

Nanocomplexes composed of chitosan derivatives and ß-Lactoglobulin as a carrier for anthocyanins: Preparation, stability and bioavailability in vitro.

To improve sustained-release property, stability and bioavailability of anthocyanins (ACNs) in vitro, we fabricated the nanocomplexes with chitosan hydrochloride (CHC), carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) and ß-Lactoglobulin (ß-Lg). Response surface methodology (RSM) combined with desirability function was employed to optimize ACNs-loaded chitosan/ß-Lg (CHC/CMC expressed with chitosan) nanocomplexes with maximum anthocyanins retention rate, preferred particle size and high encapsulation efficiency. The result suggested that the optimized conditions were 5.16 mg/mL of ß-Lg, 1.45 mg/mL of CMC and 6.09 of pH CMC solution. Based on optimized conditions, anthocyanins retention rate, particle size and encapsulation efficiency of ACNs-loaded chitosan/ß-Lg nanocomplexes were 68.9%, 91.71 nm and 69.33%, respectively. ACNs-loaded chitosan/ß-Lg nanocomplexes was more stable in simulated gastric fluid (SGF, pH 1.2) and simulated intestinal fluid (SIF, pH 6.8) by showing less ACNs release (%) than that ACNs solution and ACNs-loaded CHC/CMC nanocomplexes. Further, stability and bioavailability of ACNs in simulated gastrointestinal (GI) tract were significantly improved by nanocomplexes encapsulation. Compared with ACNs-loaded CHC/CMC nanocomplexes, ACNs-loaded chitosan/ß-Lg nanocomplexes displayed better sustained ACNs release, stability and bioavailability.