EPDT: Nano-scale Light Emitting Diode on Silicon Cantilever for Near-field Microscopy of Nanovectors Biodistribution in Tissues and Living Cells

本研究的目的是表征多阶段组合定向纳米载体在组织和活细胞中的分布，用于肿瘤表征和破坏。该方法是通过在硅探针针尖上直接制作纳米级光源，研制出一种具有亚衍射极限分辨率的近场扫描探针，并将其用于乳腺肿瘤的分子生物学检测。光源将通过静电捕获半导体纳米颗粒（CdSe/ZnS）在位于尖端上的一对硅电极之间制成。预期的光学孔径尺寸为~10 nm，比先进的NSOM减小了一个数量级，这使得活细胞上的多分子复合物能够高分辨率成像。自照明扫描探针可以批量制造成阵列形式，具有电子集成的潜力。更广泛的影响：所提出的架构将可扩展到成像其他亚细胞结构的发展机制。在细胞水平上理解发育对于理解由发育和分化途径中的缺陷和错误引起的人类疾病至关重要。德克萨斯州范围内的生物医学工程研究和教育的跨学科合作最近已经启动。该提案反映了机构间的目标，即进行尖端研究，以推进微纳米尺度光子学和MEMS领域的新型生物医学成像，为学生提供优秀的教学，并吸引少数民族，特别是西班牙裔学生进入工程专业。

The objective of this research is to characterize the distribution of multi-stage combinatorial directed nanovectors in tissues and living cells for tumor characterization and destruction. The approach is to develop a novel near-field scanning probe with sub-diffraction-limit resolution by directly fabricating nanometer sized light source on patterned silicon probe tip, and to use the probe to identify the molecular signatures of breast tumors.Intellectual Merit: The key technology involves using patterned SOI wafer to create a nanoscale light source on the tip of a MEMS fabricated probe. The light source will be made between a pair of silicon electrodes located on the tip, through electrostatically trapping semiconductor nanoparticles (CdSe/ZnS). The expected optical aperture size is ~10 nm, an order of magnitude reduction from that of an advanced NSOM, which enables high resolution imaging of multimolecular complexes on living cells. The self-illuminating scanning probe can be batch fabricated in an array format, with the potential for electronics integration. Broader Impacts: The proposed architecture will be extendable to imaging the development mechanics of other sub-cellular structures. Understanding development at cellular level is essential for understanding of human diseases caused by defects and errors in development and differentiation pathways. A Texas-wide interdisciplinary collaboration in biomedical engineering research and education has recently been initiated. This proposal reflects the inter-institutional goal to conduct cutting-edge research to advance the field of micro-nano scale photonics and MEMS for novel biomedical imaging, to provide outstanding teaching for students, and to attract minority especially Hispanic students into engineering professions.