The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited © and do not represent the views or opinions of the World Gold Council.

Wednesday, 22nd July 2009 (1106 views)

A new type of gold nanostar has been developed that could help to improve the process of biomedical imaging.

Created by researchers at Purdue University in Indiana, the nanostars measure 100 nanometres from tip to tip and are responsive to magnetic fields. They can scatter light, resulting in a "twinkling" effect.

This means that the nanostars are able to be seen clearly against the typically noisy background of biological tissue.

The gold nanostars represent a new approach compared with standard optical imaging methods, which usually involve enhancing contrast, Purdue University professor of chemistry Alexander Wei explained.

"You can't always overcome [noise] simply by creating brighter particles," he said.

"With gyromagnetic imaging, we can zero in on the nanostars by increasing signal strength while cutting down on background noise."

The research has been published in the July 22nd issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Last year, research carried out by the National Institute of Standards and Technology suggested that gold nanostars could be used in chemical applications such as the identification of contraband substances.

 

« Back to Gold News stories