Distance optical sensor for quantitative endoscopy.

We present a novel optical sensor able to mea- sure the distance between the tip of an endoscopic probe and the anatomical object under examination. In medical endoscopy, knowledge of the real distance from the endo- scope to the anatomical wall provides the actual dimen- sions and areas of the anatomical objects. Currently, en- doscopic examination is limited to a direct and qualitative observation of anatomical cavities. The major obstacle to quantitative imaging is the inability to calibrate the ac- quired images because of the magnification system. How- ever, the possibility of monitoring the actual size of ana- tomical objects is a powerful tool both in research and in clinical investigation. To solve this problem in a satisfac- tory way we study and realize an absolute distance sensor based on fiber optic low-coherence interferometry FOLCI. Until now the sensor has been tested on pig tra- chea, simulating the real humidity and temperature 37°C conditions. It showed high sensitivity, providing correct and repeatable distance measurements on biologi- cal samples even in case of very low reflected power down to 2t o 3n W, with an error lower than 0.1 mm. © 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. DOI: 10.1117/1.287013

Control of the chemiluminescence spectrum with porous Bragg mirrors

Tunable, battery free light emission is demonstrated in a solid state device that is compatible with lab on a chip technology and easily fabricated via solution processing techniques. A porous one dimensional (1D) photonic crystal (also called Bragg stack or mirror) is infiltrated by chemiluminescence rubrene-based reagents. The Bragg mirror has been designed to have the photonic band gap overlapping with the emission spectrum of rubrene. The chemiluminescence reaction occurs in the intrapores of the photonic crystal and the emission spectrum of the dye is modulated according to the photonic band gap position. This is a compact, powerless emitting source that can be exploited in disposable photonic chip for sensing and point of care applications.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

One-dimensional disordered photonic structures with two or more materials

Here we would like to discuss the light transmission modulation by periodic and disordered one dimensional (1D) photonic structures. In particular, we will present some theoretical and experimental findings highlighting the peculiar optical properties of: i) 1D periodic and disordered photonic structures made with two or more materials; ii) 1D photonic structures in which the homogeneity or the aggregation of the high refractive index layers is controlled. We will focus also on the fabrication aspects of these structures.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Skeletal muscle cells opto-stimulation by intramembrane molecular transducers

Optical stimulation and control of muscle cell contraction opens up a number of interesting applications in hybrid robotic and medicine. Here we show that recently designed molecular phototransducer can be used to stimulate C2C12 skeletal muscle cells, properly grown to exhibit collective behaviour. C2C12 is a skeletal muscle cell line that does not require animal sacrifice Furthermore, it is an ideal cell model for evaluating the phototransducer pacing ability due to its negligible spontaneous activity. We study the stimulation process and analyse the distribution of responses in multinuclear cells, in particular looking at the consistency between stimulus and contraction. Contractions are detected by using an imaging software for object recognition. We find a deterministic response to light stimuli, yet with a certain distribution of erratic behaviour that is quantified and correlated to light intensity or stimulation frequency. Finally, we compare our optical stimulation with electrical stimulation showing advantages of the optical approach, like the reduced cell stress.A study on the stimulation of cells with light, thanks to a photochromic molecule, called Ziapin2. It shows the difference between the light stimulation and the electrical stimulation in terms of cell viability and performance

Ultrafast photochromism and bacteriochromism in one dimensional hybrid plasmonic photonic structures

Hybrid plasmonic photonic structures combine the plasmonic response with the photonic band gap, holding promise for utilization as optical switches and sensors. Here, we demonstrate the active modulation of the optical response in such structures with two different external stimuli, e.g. laser pulses and bacteria. First, we report the fabrication of a miniaturized (5 x 5 mm) indium tin oxide (ITO) grating employing femtosecond laser micromachining, and we show the possibility to modulate the photonic band gap in the visible via ultrafast photoexcitation in the infrared part of the spectrum. Note that the demonstrated time response in the picosecond range of the spectral modulation have an industrial relevance. Moreover, we manufacture one-dimensional photonic crystals consisting of a solution-processed dielectric Bragg stack exposing a top-layer of bio-active silver. We assign the bacterial responsivity of the system to polarization charges at the Ag/bacterium interface, giving rise to an overall blue shift of the photonic band gap.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Diamond photonics platform enabled by femtosecond laser writing

We demonstrate the first buried optical waveguides in diamond using focused femtosecond laser pulses. The properties of nitrogen vacancy centers are preserved in the waveguides, making them promising for diamond-based magnetometers or quantum information systems.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure

Glass-based 1-D dielectric microcavities

We have developed a reliable RF sputtering techniques allowing to fabricate glass-based one dimensional microcavities, with high quality factor. This property is strongly related to the modification of the density of states due to the confinement of the gain medium in a photonic band gap structure. In this short review we present some of the more recent results obtained by our team exploiting these 1D microcavities. In particular we present: (1) Er3+ luminescence enhancement of the 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transition; (2) broad band filters based on disordered 1-D photonic structures; (3) threshold defect-mode lasing action in a hybrid structure

Simplified 3D hydrodynamic flow focusing for lab-on-chip single particle study

Abstract Accurately control of the position of a fluid and particle within lab-on-a-chip platform is a critical prerequisite for many downstream analysis processes, such as detection, trapping and separation, moving the sensing at the single-particle level. With the development of microfluidic fabrication technology, particle/cell focusing has shifted from two to three dimensions. 3D hydrodynamic focusing, which sorts and aligns the incoming cloud of particles so that they pass through the interrogation area one by one, enables new possibilities and breakthroughs in the single-cell analysis system. Despite the excellent results shown in literature, there is still a lack of a device that can simultaneously fulfilling the requirements of high throughput, compactness, high integrability, and ease of use operation to become a widely accepted work center for biomedical research and clinical applications. Here, we proposed a unique 3D flow focusing microfluidic device buried in fused silica substrate that potentially combines all this advantages. By designing a sample channel suspended inside a larger buffer channel, manufactured by exploiting the laser-assisted micromachine technique, a not size-dependent focusing capability is shown. A spatially and temporally stable central flow of a mixture of 15 μm and 6 μm PS particles to a 1 μm PS microsphere solution has been obtained with high accuracy. Finally, to test the achievable focusing resolution, the chip was tested for the detection of Escherichia Coli bacteria in water solution as proof of concept of biological application

Low-voltage tunable photonics devices: grove on thin porous structures containing liquid crystals

In this study we demonstrate the fabrication of one-dimensional porous multilayer photonic crystals made by metal oxide nanoparticles. We show the infiltration of these porous structures with a liquid crystal via a very simple method, resulting in a red shift of the photonic band gap due to increase of the effective refractive index of the medium. Taking advantage of structure thickness of only few micrometers, we have observed a blue shift of the photonic band gap owing the non-linear response of the liquid crystals by applying a very low external electric voltage, i.e. 8 V. The experimental observation of electric voltage tuning on the transmission spectrum has been corroborated by transfer matrix method simulations, by taking into account the non-linear optical properties of the liquid crystal. In this framework, we propose how the optical properties of these structure can be accurately predicted by our simulation software in terms of diffraction efficiency, of photonic band gap position when the porous photonic crystals is doped with a liquid crystal, of modulation of the photonic band gap position (electro-optic tuning) in the presence of applied voltage. According with results carried out by the custom simulation software it is possible to control the optical proprieties of the photonics crystal in very thin structures. Furthermore, the presented device could be very interesting for applications where high sensitivity sensor and selective color tunability is needed with the use of cheap and low voltage power supplies. © (2013) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only