Close Menu
  • News
  • Medical
  • Technology
  • Nanomaterials
  • Research
  • Blog
    • Nasiol.com
  • Contact
    • Tech7685@gmail.com
What's Hot

2D hybrid material integrates graphene and silica glass for next-generation electronics

June 4, 2025

Zeolite nanopore model links crystal size to metal cluster migration and catalyst performance

June 4, 2025

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in electron systems proves elusive

June 3, 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Nanotech – Nanomaterials | Medical | Research | News Stories Updated Daily Nanotech – Nanomaterials | Medical | Research | News Stories Updated Daily
  • News
  • Medical
  • Technology
  • Nanomaterials
  • Research
  • Blog
    • Nasiol.com
  • Contact
    • Tech7685@gmail.com
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Nanotech – Nanomaterials | Medical | Research | News Stories Updated Daily Nanotech – Nanomaterials | Medical | Research | News Stories Updated Daily
Home»Medical»Nanoscale tattoos for tracking the health of individual cells
Medical

Nanoscale tattoos for tracking the health of individual cells

August 17, 2023No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Telegram LinkedIn Tumblr WhatsApp Email
Nanoscale tattoos for tracking the health of individual cells
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Telegram Email

Engineers have developed nanoscale tattoos-;dots and wires that adhere to live cells-;in a breakthrough that puts researchers one step closer to tracking the health of individual cells.

The new technology allows for the first time the placement of optical elements or electronics on live cells with tattoo-like arrays that stick on cells while flexing and conforming to the cells’wet and fluid outer structure.

“If you imagine where this is all going in the future, we would like to have sensors to remotely monitor and control the state of individual cells and the environment surrounding those cells in real time,” said David Gracias, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University who led the development of the technology. “If we had technologies to track the health of isolated cells, we could maybe diagnose and treat diseases much earlier and not wait until the entire organ is damaged.”

The details are published in Nano Letters.

Gracias, who works on developing biosensor technologies that are nontoxic and noninvasive for the body, said the tattoos bridge the gap between living cells or tissue and conventional sensors and electronic materials. They’re essentially like barcodes or QR codes, he said.

We’re talking about putting something like an electronic tattoo on a living object tens of times smaller than the head of a pin. It’s the first step towards attaching sensors and electronics on live cells.”

David Gracias, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, Johns Hopkins University

The structures were able to stick to soft cells for 16 hours even as the cells moved.

See also  New quantum dot approach can enhance electrical conductivity of solar cells

The researchers built the tattoos in the form of arrays with gold, a material known for its ability to prevent signal loss or distortion in electronic wiring. They attached the arrays to cells that make and sustain tissue in the human body, called fibroblasts. The arrays were then treated with molecular glues and transferred onto the cells using an alginate hydrogel film, a gel-like laminate that can be dissolved after the gold adheres to the cell. The molecular glue on the array bonds to a film secreted by the cells called the extracellular matrix.

Previous research has demonstrated how to use hydrogels to stick nanotechnology onto human skin and internal animal organs. By showing how to adhere nanowires and nanodots onto single cells, Gracias’ team is addressing the long-standing challenge of making optical sensors and electronics compatible with biological matter at the single cell level.

“We’ve shown we can attach complex nanopatterns to living cells, while ensuring that the cell doesn’t die,” Gracias said. “It’s a very important result that the cells can live and move with the tattoos because there’s often a significant incompatibility between living cells and the methods engineers use to fabricate electronics.”

The team’s ability to attach the dots and wires in an array form is also crucial. To use this technology to track bioinformation, researchers must be able to arrange sensors and wiring into specific patterns not unlike how they are arranged in electronic chips.

“This is an array with specific spacing,” Gracias explained, “not a haphazard bunch of dots.”

See also  Carbon nanotubes have progressed toward energy and health applications, but misconceptions remain

The team plans to try to attach more complex nanocircuits that can stay in place for longer periods. They also want to experiment with different types of cells.

Source:

Journal reference:

Kwok, K. S., et al. (2023) Toward Single Cell Tattoos: Biotransfer Printing of Lithographic Gold Nanopatterns on Live Cells. Nano Letters. doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c01960.

Source link

cells health individual nanoscale tattoos tracking
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Crystal-modifying agent piracetam provides scalable strategy for high-efficiency all-perovskite tandem solar cells

June 3, 2025

Nanoscale biosensor lets scientists monitor molecules in real time

May 30, 2025

Nanoscale spectroscopy detects vibrational signals from molecules in confined gaps

May 22, 2025

AI-powered electronic nose detects diverse scents for health care and environmental applications

May 10, 2025

Ultrafast plasmon-enhanced magnetic bit switching at the nanoscale

May 6, 2025

First-ever real-time visualization of nanoscale domain response may boost ultrasound imaging technology

April 30, 2025

Comments are closed.

Top Articles
News

New method realize ohmic contacts in n-type MoS₂ transistors at cryogenic temperatures

News

Earth’s magnetic field impact on fluid flow revealed for the first time

News

Researchers develop polyurea membranes for lithium recovery from waste batteries

Editors Picks

2D hybrid material integrates graphene and silica glass for next-generation electronics

June 4, 2025

Zeolite nanopore model links crystal size to metal cluster migration and catalyst performance

June 4, 2025

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in electron systems proves elusive

June 3, 2025

Improving Crop Tolerance to Drought and Heat Using Nanomaterials

June 3, 2025
About Us
About Us

Your go-to source for the latest nanotechnology breakthroughs. Explore innovations, applications, and implications shaping the future at the molecular level. Stay informed, embrace the nano-revolution.

We're accepting new partnerships right now.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
Our Picks

Could hBN Become Quantum Technology’s Go-To Material?

October 19, 2023

Materials scientists reveal pathway for designing optical materials with specialized properties

May 15, 2024

Scientists Discover Unusual Ultrafast Motion in Layered Magnetic Materials

August 18, 2023

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative Nano Tech news from Elnano.com

© 2025 Elnano.com - All rights reserved.
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Cleantalk Pixel