3-D upgrade to a hyperspectral dark field microscope

本提案寻求资源，以紧急升级我们的暗场高光谱显微镜。暗场显微镜甚至可以拍摄纳米级物体的图像，比如纳米颗粒，同时还可以记录它们的散射特性。我们目前的系统被来自不同科学和工程研究小组的20多名研究人员使用。然而，目前的系统只允许二维（平面）成像，这对已经开发的各种研究项目是一个严重的障碍。此次升级将允许3D成像（切片和深度剖析（数十微米深）），这对于在各种系统中实现纳米物体的可视化和定位至关重要，包括活细胞、组织、细菌、凝胶和聚合物颗粒。由于这一升级，将有可能开展的研究项目包括一项通过在肿瘤部位引入金属纳米粒子来提高癌症放疗效率的方案。新型的金属纳米粒子将被制造出来，并被引入癌细胞中，癌细胞随后将受到不同剂量的辐射。这将使探针的发展能够改善放射治疗的结果，放射治疗是癌症治疗中最常用的方法之一。生物系统对纳米颗粒的吸收也将使用一种新型聚合物金属纳米颗粒复合材料进行研究，这种复合材料有可能将药物直接输送到肿瘤部位。这将支持智能药物治疗的新载体的开发，也将改善癌症治疗的结果。升级后的系统将通过提供细胞内纳米颗粒的适当表征（位置）来实现这项研究。除了癌症研究之外，新的升级还将用于细菌和细胞膜之间的相互作用以及凝胶网络中分子系统的时间依赖性行为的3D可视化。这种类型的信息将有助于了解疾病的机制，并将推动目标药物的发展，以对抗感染的传播。

This proposal seeks resources for an urgent upgrade to our dark field hyperspectral microscope. A dark field microscope allows image of even nanoscopic objects, such as nanoparticles, while also recording their scattering characteristics. Our current system is used by more than 20 researchers from different research groups in science and in engineering. However, the current system only allows 2D (planar) imaging, which is a serious impediment to various of the research projects already being developed. The upgrade will allow 3D imaging (sectioning and depth profiling (tens of micrometers deep)) which is essential to enable visualization and location of nano-objects in a variety of systems, including living cells, tissues, bacteria, gels and polymeric particles. The research projects that will be possible due to the upgrade include a protocol to increase the efficiency of cancer radiotherapy through the introduction of metallic nanoparticles in the tumour site. Novel metallic nanoparticles will be fabricated and introduced to cancer cells that will be subsequently subject to various radiation doses. This will allow the development of probes that will improve the outcomes of radiotherapy, one of the most used methods for cancer treatment. The uptake of nanoparticles by biological systems will also be investigated using a novel polymer metal nanoparticle composite, which has the potential to deliver drugs directly to tumour sites. This will support the development of new vehicles for smart drug treatments that will also improve outcomes of cancer therapy. The upgraded system will enable this research by providing the proper characterization (location) of the nanoparticles within the cells. Beyond cancer research, the new upgrade will also be used to visualize in 3D the interaction between bacteria and cell membranes and the time dependent behaviour of molecular systems in gel networks. This type of information will be useful to the understanding of the mechanism of diseases and it will drive the development of target drugs to fight the spread of infections.