Friday, 11th November 2005 (4086 views)

Researchers have used gold nanorods to track the blood flow to a mouse's ear.

The nanorods enabled effective 3D imaging by providing a bright two-photon luminescence (TPL) signal, Purdue University scientists reported in PNAS.

In fact the TPL signal is 58 times brighter than that provided by a rhodamine molecule.

"Gold nanorods are promising as contrast agents for biological imaging because they have tunable absorption properties in the near-infrared," Alex Wei from Purdue University told nanotechweb.org.

Gold nanorods are capable of detection at a single-particle level, making them useful for detecting diseases such as cancer in their early stages.

The gold nanorods had an average length of 49 nanometres and were approximately 16 nanometres thick.

Gold is suitable for a variety of biological appliances, as it is biologically inert.

 

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