Category Technology/Electronics

All-optical system for control of wave dynamics in biological media.

Team first to use optogenetics to control excitation waves in heart cells.
We depend on electrical waves to regulate the rhythm of our heartbeat. When those signals go awry, the result is a potentially fatal arrhythmia.
For heart patients there are currently 2 options to keep these waves in check: electrical devices (pacemakers or defibrillators) or drugs (eg beta blockers). However, these methods are relatively crude: they can stop or start waves but cannot provide fine control over the wave speed and direction

Dr Gil Bub, from Oxford University explained: ‘When there is scar tissue in the heart or fibrosis, this can cause part of the wave to slow down...

Redistribution of electronic clouds causes a lattice instability and freezes the flow of heat in highly efficient tin selenide. The crystal lattice adopts a distorted state in which the chemical bonds are stretched into an accordion-like configuration, and makes an excellent thermoelectric because heat propagation is thwarted. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Engines, laptops and power plants generate waste heat. Thermoelectric materials, which convert temperature gradients to electricity and vice versa, can recover some of that heat and improve energy efficiency. Scientists have explored the fundamental physics of the world’s best thermoelectric material — tin selenide – using neutron scattering and computer simulations...

Berkeley Lab researchers have experimentally confirmed strong in-plane anisotropy in thermal conductivity along the zigzag (ZZ) and armchair (AC) directions of single-crystal black phosphorous nanoribbons. Credit: Junqiao Wu, Berkeley Lab

Researchers have confirmed single-crystal black phosphorous nanoribbons display a strong in-plane anisotropy in thermal conductivity, up to a factor of 2, along the zigzag and armchair directions of single-crystal black phosphorus nanoribbons. An experimental revelation that should facilitate the future application of this highly promising material to electronic, optoelectronic and thermoelectric devices.

“Imagine the lattice of black phosphorus as a 2D network of balls connected with springs, in which the network is softer along one direction of the plan...

Images collected using an SRS microscope show that normal brain contains sparse cells with bundles of nerve fibers, called axons (left), but brain tumor tissue is full of cells in a disordered pattern (right). While you can see the difference on a microscopic scale, during surgery they’d be difficult to differentiate, making it hard for a surgeon to know where the tumor stops. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Michigan Health System

New tech gives brain surgeons real-time microscopic vision of tumors, potentially allowing the surgical decision-making process to become data driven, instead of subjective “best guesses,”. Even the state-of-the-art imaging equipment in today’s OR still doesn’t make the process much easier...