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Bathing a patient in LED light may someday offer a new way to locate tumors, according to researchers. The spectral triangulation system is intended to pinpoint targeted cancer tumors tagged with antibody-linked carbon nanotubes. The technique relies on the fact that single-walled carbon nanotubes naturally fluoresce at short-wave infrared wavelengths when excited by visible light.
A highly sensitive detector called an InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide) avalanche photodiode made it possible to read faint signals from nanotubes up to 20 millimeters deep in the simulated tissue used for lab tests.Image credit: Weisman Lab/Rice University
