Artistic depiction of a butterfly above the bioinspired imaging sensor. Credit: The Grainger College of Engineering at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Key points:
- Inspired by the visual system of the Papilio xuthus butterfly, researchers have developed an imaging sensor for the UV range inaccessible to the human eye.
- This technology is capable of imaging the spectral signatures of biomedical markers to distinguish between cancer cells and normal cells with 99% accuracy.
- The sensor has the potential to help ensure clear margins when surgically removing cancerous tumors.
Researchers, drawing inspiration from the visual system of the Papilio xuthus butterfly, have developed an imaging sensor for the UV range inaccessible to the human eye. This technology, outlined in Science Advances, is capable of imaging the spectral signatures of biomedical markers to distinguish between cancer cells and normal cells.
The sensor uses stacked photodiodes and perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs), which are capable of imaging wavelengths in the UV range. A thin layer of PNCs with a tiered array of silicon diodes mimics the UV sensing mechanism of the Papilio xuthus butterfly.
The PNC layer of the sensor absorbs UV photons and re-emits light in the visible spectrum that is then detected by the tiered silicon photodiodes. By processing these signals, researchers can map and identify UV signatures and their related biomarkers.
“Imaging the UV region has been limited,” explained study author Shuming Nle. “Now we have come up with this technology where we can image UV light with high sensitivity and can also distinguish small wavelength differences.”
Various biomarkers—amino acids, proteins and enzymes—are present at higher concentrations in cancerous tissue than in healthy tissue. When excited with UV light, these markers light up and autofluoresce. As cancer and healthy cells have distinct markers and spectral signatures, the two classes can be differentiated based on their UV spectrum fluorescence.
In this study, researchers found their sensor could distinguish between cancer cells and normal cells with 99% confidence. As a result, the team envisions using the sensor during surgery to ensure clear margins when removing a cancerous tumor.
“This new imaging technology is enabling us to differentiate cancer versus healthy cells and is opening up new and exciting applications beyond just health,” said Nle.