Perspective: Wavefront shaping techniques for controlling multiple light scattering in biological tissues: Toward in vivo applications

Multiple light scattering has been regarded as a barrier in imaging through complex media such as biological tissues. Owing to recent advances in wavefront shaping techniques, optical imaging through intact biological tissues without invasive procedures can now be used for direct experimental studies, presenting promising application opportunities in in vivo imaging and diagnosis. Although most of the recent proof of principle breakthroughs have been achieved in the laboratory setting with specialties in physics and engineering, we anticipate that these technologies can be translated to biological laboratories and clinical settings, which will revolutionize how we diagnose and treat a disease. To provide insight into the physical principle that enables the control of multiple light scattering in biological tissues and how recently developed techniques can improve bioimaging through thick tissues, we summarize recent progress on wavefront shaping techniques for controlling multiple light scattering in biological tissues

Development of Space-Time-Controlled Multi-Stage Pulsed Magnetic Field Forming and Manufacturing Technology at the WHMFC*

In November 2011, the Project of Basic Research of Forming by Space-Time-Controlled Multi-Stage Pulsed Magnetic Field (Stic-Must-PMF) was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Project, 2011.11-2016.08). It is aimed at achieving breakthroughs in manufacturing technology to solve current problems in forming largescale and complex sheet and tube parts and components, imposed by the limitations of existing equipment and materials forming properties. The objective of our research group focuses on the design principles and structural layout optimization of Stic-Must-PMF facility. And this paper will report the development of Stic-Must-PMF forming and manufacturing technology at the Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center (WHMFC) including numerical modeling, experimental setup and experimental studies

Electric-field-driven Non-volatile Multi-state Switching of Individual Skyrmions in a Multiferroic Heterostructure

Electrical manipulation of skyrmions attracts considerable attention for its rich physics and promising applications. To date, such a manipulation is realized mainly via spin-polarized current based on spin-transfer torque or spin-orbital torque effect. However, this scheme is energy-consuming and may produce massive Joule heating. To reduce energy dissipation and risk of heightened temperatures of skyrmion-based devices, an effective solution is to use electric field instead of current as stimulus. Here, we realize an electric-field manipulation of skyrmions in a nanostructured ferromagnetic/ferroelectrical heterostructure at room temperature via an inverse magneto-mechanical effect. Intriguingly, such a manipulation is non-volatile and exhibits a multi-state feature. Numerical simulations indicate that the electric-field manipulation of skyrmions originates from strain-mediated modification of effective magnetic anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. Our results open a direction for constructing low-energy-dissipation, non-volatile, and multi-state skyrmion-based spintronic devices.Comment: Accepted by Nature Communications 11, 3577 (2020

Wavefront shaping: A versatile tool to conquer multiple scattering in multidisciplinary fields

Optical techniques offer a wide variety of applications as light-matter interactions provide extremely sensitive mechanisms to probe or treat target media. Most of these implementations rely on the usage of ballistic or quasi-ballistic photons to achieve high spatial resolution. However, the inherent scattering nature of light in biological tissues or tissue-like scattering media constitutes a critical obstacle that has restricted the penetration depth of non-scattered photons and hence limited the implementation of most optical techniques for wider applications. In addition, the components of an optical system are usually designed and manufactured for a fixed function or performance. Recent advances in wavefront shaping have demonstrated that scattering- or component-induced phase distortions can be compensated by optimizing the wavefront of the input light pattern through iteration or by conjugating the transmission matrix of the scattering medium. This offers unprecedented opportunities in many applications to achieve controllable optical delivery or detection at depths or dynamically configurable functionalities by using scattering media to substitute conventional optical components. In this article, the recent progress of wavefront shaping in multidisciplinary fields is reviewed, from optical focusing and imaging with scattering media, functionalized devices, modulation of mode coupling, and nonlinearity in multimode fiber to multimode fiber-based applications. Apart from insights into the underlying principles and recent advances in wavefront shaping implementations, practical limitations and roadmap for future development are discussed in depth. Looking back and looking forward, it is believed that wavefront shaping holds a bright future that will open new avenues for noninvasive or minimally invasive optical interactions and arbitrary control inside deep tissues. The high degree of freedom with multiple scattering will also provide unprecedented opportunities to develop novel optical devices based on a single scattering medium (generic or customized) that can outperform traditional optical components

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Wavefront Shaping and Its Application to Enhance Photoacoustic Imaging

Since its introduction to the field in mid-1990s, photoacoustic imaging has become a fast-developing biomedical imaging modality with many promising potentials. By converting absorbed diffused light energy into not-so-diffused ultrasonic waves, the reconstruction of the ultrasonic waves from the targeted area in photoacoustic imaging leads to a high-contrast sensing of optical absorption with ultrasonic resolution in deep tissue, overcoming the optical diffusion limit from the signal detection perspective. The generation of photoacoustic signals, however, is still throttled by the attenuation of photon flux due to the strong diffusion effect of light in tissue. Recently, optical wavefront shaping has demonstrated that multiply scattered light could be manipulated so as to refocus inside a complex medium, opening up new hope to tackle the fundamental limitation. In this paper, the principle and recent development of photoacoustic imaging and optical wavefront shaping are briefly introduced. Then we describe how photoacoustic signals can be used as a guide star for in-tissue optical focusing, and how such focusing can be exploited for further enhancing photoacoustic imaging in terms of sensitivity and penetration depth. Finally, the existing challenges and further directions towards in vivo applications are discussed

An Analytical Study on Dynamic Response of Multiple Simply Supported Beam System Subjected to Moving Loads

Based on Euler–Bernoulli beam theory, first, partial differential equations were established for the vibration of multiple simply supported beams subjected to moving loads. Then, integral transforms were conducted on the spatial displacement coordinate and time in the partial differential equations, and the frequency-domain response of multiple simply supported beams subjected to moving loads was obtained. Next, by conducting the corresponding inverse transforms on the displacement frequency-domain responses of multiple simply supported beams, the spatial displacement time-domain responses were obtained. Finally, to validate the analytical method reported in this paper, the dynamic response of a typical double simply supported rail-bridge beam system of high-speed railway in China subjected to a moving load was carried out. The results show that the analytical solution proposed in this paper is consistent with the results obtained from a finite element analysis, validating and rationalizing the analytical solution. Moreover, the system parameters were analyzed for the dynamic response of double simply supported rail-bridge beam system in high-speed railway subjected to a moving load with different speeds; the conclusions can be beneficial for engineering practice