In this section
We use light to develop advanced diagnostic tools, wearable sensors, and microscale robots for studying diseases and enabling minimally invasive treatments.
We use photonics to develop new technologies for medicine and to study the pathophysiology of disease. This includes new and improved diagnostic tools as well as microscale robotic devices for therapeutic applications. We use a variety of optical techniques for this purpose such as fluorescence, Raman and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, as well as microscopy and interferometry. We develop devices ranging from wearable sensors and fibre-optic probes for minimally invasive diagnostics through to microscale robots for cellular-scale manipulation and therapy.
Our research has a number of potential clinical applications including improved monitoring of clinical therapies and interventions (e.g. in inflammatory bowel disease and malnutrition), early diagnosis of infection, and even margin mapping in tumour resection surgery.
The devices we are developing can potentially provide less invasive and lower cost diagnostics. In turn, this may facilitate patient benefits including earlier diagnosis, earlier identification of relapse (e.g. in therapy response monitoring applications), more widespread deployment and more comfortable patient experiences (e.g. through use of less invasive probes and sensors).
Dr Belal Ahmad
Imperial College Research Fellow
Dr Qian Chen
Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Ahmed Ezzat
Research Postgraduate
Dr Nilanjan Mandal
Research Associate in Optical Sensing for LMICs
Dr Alexander J Thompson
Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sensing
Mr Zeyu Wang
Research Postgraduate
@article{Kuimova:2016:10.1016/j.bpj.2016.08.020,
author = {Kuimova, MK and Mika, JT and Thompson, AJ and Dent, MR and Brooks, NJ and Michiels, J and Hofkens, J},
doi = {10.1016/j.bpj.2016.08.020},
journal = {Biophysical Journal},
pages = {1528--1540},
title = {Measuring the viscosity of the Escherichia coli plasma membrane using molecular rotors},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2016.08.020},
volume = {111},
year = {2016}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - The viscosity is a highly important parameter within the cell membrane, affecting the diffusion ofsmall molecules and, hence, controlling the rates of intra-cellular reactions. There is significantinterest in the direct, quantitative assessment of membrane viscosity. Here we report the use offluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) of the molecular rotor BODIPY C10 in themembranes of live Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria to permit direct quantification of the viscosity.Using this approach we investigated the viscosity in live E. coli cells, spheroplasts and liposomesmade from E. coli membrane extracts. For live cells and spheroplasts the viscosity was measured atboth room temperature (23o C) and the E. coli growth temperature (37o C), while the membraneextract liposomes were studied over a range of measurement temperatures (5-40o C). At 37o C werecorded a membrane viscosity in live E. coli cells of 950 cP, which is considerably higher than thatpreviously observed in other live cell membranes (e.g., eukaryotic cells, membranes of Bacillusvegetative cells). Interestingly, this indicates that E. coli cells exhibit a high degree of lipid orderingwithin their liquid-phase plasma membranes.
AU - Kuimova,MK
AU - Mika,JT
AU - Thompson,AJ
AU - Dent,MR
AU - Brooks,NJ
AU - Michiels,J
AU - Hofkens,J
DO - 10.1016/j.bpj.2016.08.020
EP - 1540
PY - 2016///
SN - 1542-0086
SP - 1528
TI - Measuring the viscosity of the Escherichia coli plasma membrane using molecular rotors
T2 - Biophysical Journal
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2016.08.020
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/39497
VL - 111
ER -
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