New Laser Technique Offers Non-Invasive Brain Study

New Laser Technique Offers Non-Invasive Brain Study
Dec-02-13
A new way of studying the actions of chemicals through bone could lead to a non-invasive method of studying neurotransmitters at work inside the brain.

Currently, measuring the levels of certain chemicals within the brain requires that a hole be drilled through the skull. In search of a less dramatic method of studying the brain’s workings, a team of researchers have shown that Raman spectroscopy can be used to detect chemicals through the bone. They proved their concept by injecting a cut of lamb meat with chemically modified gold nanoparticles treated to have a strong Raman signature, and then shone the laser on the bone on the opposite side of the injection. The team was immediately able to detect the chemical signature of the altered molecules.

The technology is exciting, but is still just a first step toward using Raman as a brain imaging technique. However, as Richard P. Van Duyne (whose team used the technique to monitor glucose levels through the skin of live rats, “This is just step one, but it’s a showstopper.”

Image: Researchers inject nanoparticles decorated with a reporter molecule into lamb meat next to the bone and then detect the molecules using Raman spectroscopy. The red circle highlights where the researchers focused the laser light onto the bone.

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[POPSCI.COM]
[CHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING NEWS]
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