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Friday, 5th February 2010 (3816 views)

Gold nanoparticles have been used to develop a new technique for destroying individual diseased cells using tiny explosions.

Scientists at Rice University in Houston, Texas, used laser pulses targeted at gold particles inserted inside the cells to create "nanobubbles" that, when large enough, burst the cell apart.

"The bubbles work like a jackhammer," said the project's lead researcher Dmitri Lapotko.

Their size can be altered by adjusting the laser pulses, he noted.

Because the nanobubbles are extremely bright, they can be viewed through a microscope to either diagnose diseased tissue or track the explosions destroying it.

Professor Lapotko said this could allow scientists to detect and treat unhealthy cells at an early state, before diseases become chronic conditions.

Last year, the Rice University research team used the nanobubbles to blast through plaque deposits in blocked arteries.

In its latest work, they were used to successfully target and destroy leukaemia cells and tissue from head and neck cancers.

 

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