Development of a Special Microscope to Detect 'Nanoipja' for Cancer Treatment

Dr. Jang Gi-su's Research Team at the Institute for Basic Science Support

Schematic diagram of a dual-mode optical microscope system combining dark-field scattering microscopy and photothermal reflection microscopy

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] As the 'thermal cancer treatment method,' which eliminates cancer cells by generating heat through irradiating light on nanoparticles, gains global attention, a Korean research team has attracted interest by developing a microscope capable of precisely measuring the heat generation characteristics of nanoparticles at the single-particle level. It is expected to be utilized in the development of functional nanoparticles for early cancer diagnosis and accurate treatment.

The Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) announced on the 12th that Dr. Jang Gi-su's research team in the Research Equipment Development Department succeeded in developing a novel optical microscope system that can detect single nanoparticles dispersed on a substrate, which are difficult to observe with a conventional optical microscope, and analyze the optical and thermal properties of the detected nanoparticles by measuring their light absorption spectrum and heat generation.

Research on photothermal therapy, which selectively delivers nanoparticles only to cancer cells and irradiates light to selectively destroy cancer cells by the heat generated from the photothermal effect of the nanoparticles, is actively underway. However, nanoparticles have properties whose photothermal characteristics vary drastically depending on particle size, shape, composition, and surrounding materials, making it difficult to accurately identify each characteristic of nanoparticles and develop nanoparticles that perfectly meet desired conditions. Therefore, to understand the photothermal properties of various forms of nanoparticles and develop new functional nanoparticles optimized for application fields, the need for a microscope capable of measuring and analyzing the properties of single nanoparticles has been raised.

The research team developed a novel hybrid optical microscope combining a dark-field scattering microscope, which can observe only the light scattered from nanoparticles, and a photothermal reflection microscope, which can observe the heat generated by light absorbed by nanoparticles when irradiated on the sample. The dual-mode system uses the dark-field scattering microscope function to identify the positions of single nanoparticles dispersed on the substrate and the photothermal reflection microscope function to measure the light absorption spectrum of the located nanoparticles.

In particular, the photothermal reflection microscope irradiates the sample widely with wavelength-tunable pump and probe light beams over a diameter of more than 500 μm and can simultaneously acquire the absorption spectrum and heat generation characteristics of over 10,000 single nanoparticles within a wide microscope field of view exceeding 150 μm in diameter. The ability to perform large-scale measurements in a short time is a significant advantage.

The global gold nanoparticle market is expected to grow sharply at an average annual rate of 12.5% from 2019 to 2025, reaching approximately 6.3 billion USD by 2025. Market demand for nanoparticle characteristic analysis equipment is also expected to increase. The microscope system developed this time implements photothermal characteristic analysis technology at the single nanoparticle level, which has never been commercialized before, marking a significant achievement in pioneering a new area in the research equipment market with domestic technology.

Dr. Jang Gi-su said, “The microscope system developed this time focuses on expandability to be compatible with existing optical microscope platforms, allowing researchers in the nanoparticle development field who lack optical knowledge to use it easily,” and added, “We also judged the commercialization potential of the research equipment to be high and have completed related patent applications.”

This result was published in the October issue of the optical field academic journal 'Nanophotonics.'

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.