60-nm gold nanorods yield brighter images than dyes.(UNIVERSITY RESEARCH)

Advanced Materials & Processes,  April, 2006  

Tags: Purdue University, technique

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An ultra-sensitive medical imaging technique in which a laser light shines through the skin to detect tiny gold nanorods injected into the bloodstream is under development by researchers at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. The gold rods are about 20 nanometers wide and 60 nanometers long, or roughly 200 times smaller than a red blood cell.

In tests with mice, the nanorods yielded images nearly 60 times brighter than conventional fluorescent dyes, including rhodamine, commonly used for a wide range of biological imaging. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Findings are detailed in a ...

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