Butterfly vision helped "see" cancer cells
Nature often inspires scientists to invent. Another example of this is a new image sensor that allows you to "see" in the ultraviolet range, which is inaccessible to the human eye. The sensor, whose principle of operation bioengineers "looked up" in butterflies, made it possible to distinguish between healthy and affected by cancer cells with almost 100% accuracy.Most people have trichromatic vision, in which all distinguishable eye shades are formed from combinations of three basic colors: red, green and blue. The common ancestor of all vertebrates had tetrachromatic vision and distinguished more colors (and probably saw in a wider part of the spectrum), but specifically mammals, due to the nocturnal lifestyle in the time of the dinosaurs, became dichromatic and only in primates were able to partially recover lost (our vision is trichromatic). In butterflies, the eyes are faceted, with six or more classes of photoreceptors with different spectral sensitivity.
Nature often inspires scientists to invent. Another example of this is a new image sensor that allows you to "see" in the ultraviolet range, which is inaccessible to the human eye. The sensor, whose principle of operation bioengineers "looked up" in butterflies, made it possible to distinguish between healthy and affected by cancer cells with almost 100% accuracy.
Most people have trichromatic vision, in which all distinguishable eye shades are formed from combinations of three basic colors: red, green and blue. The common ancestor of all vertebrates had tetrachromatic vision and distinguished more colors (and probably saw in a wider part of the spectrum), but specifically mammals, due to the nocturnal lifestyle in the time of the dinosaurs, became dichromatic and only in primates were able to partially recover lost (our vision is trichromatic). In butterflies, the eyes are faceted, with six or more classes of photoreceptors with different spectral sensitivity.
Perovskite nanocrystals are a type of semiconductor nanocrystals with excellent optical properties, which makes them attractive for use in modern laser systems. Also in the last few years, they have been used in the production of photovoltaic cells and LEDs. Perovskite nanocrystals are characterized by increased sensitivity to ultraviolet and even shorter-wavelength light, which traditional silicon sensors are not.
In the sensor created by engineers, a layer of perovskite nanocrystals absorbs UV photons and then re-emits fluorescent light in the visible range (in the green part of the spectrum), which is then captured by multilayer silicon photodiodes. Processing of these signals makes it possible to detect and recognize certain characteristic features of the incoming UV radiation.
Various biomarkers - aromatic amino acids, proteins and enzymes - are present in cancer-affected tissues in higher concentrations than in healthy tissues. When exposed to UV light, they begin to fluoresce, which is called autofluorescence. Because of differences in the concentration of the markers, cancer cells and healthy cells differ in their spectral characteristics, which can be seen by their glow in UV light. Using the new image sensor, the researchers were able to visually recognize cancer markers in diseased tissues and distinguish them from healthy tissues with 99% confidence.
The authors of the invention suggested that it could be used during surgeries. When removing a cancerous tumor, surgeons are often faced with a difficult choice: how large an area to remove so as not to leave any diseased tissue. The new sensor could make these decisions easier. Other applications are also possible, such as military and industrial automation.