Why Biological Tissue Is Opaque

About a year ago, a research team at Stanford Engineering led by Guosong Hong published a paper about their work to use a common food dye to make mouse skin transparent. Their findings made a big splash and have the potential to provide a range of benefits in health care. You can imagine that if we have the ability to see what’s going on under the skin without having to cut into it, or use radiation to get a clear look, this could improve everything from invasive biopsies to painful blood draws. We hope you’ll tune in again and enjoy.

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Episode Reference Links:

• Stanford Profile: ​​Guosong Hong
• Guosong's Lab: THE HONG LAB

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Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction

Russ Altman introduces Guosong Hong, an expert in physics, material science, and biology from Stanford University.

(00:01:52) Material Science Meets Neuroscience

How Guosong’s research blends nanomaterials and brain science.

(00:03:00) Why Tissue Isn’t Transparent

The challenge of light penetration in biological tissues.

(00:04:54) A New Approach to Tissue Clearing

The physics behind tissue transparency and refractive index manipulation.

(00:07:57) UV Light and Transparency

How manipulating UV absorption can align refractive indexes.

(00:10:16) First Experiments and Results

Initial tests that demonstrate successful tissue clearing.

(00:12:19) Applications in Medicine

The potential of transparent tissues in dermatology and medical imaging.

(00:14:36) Testing on Live Tissue

The results of testing transparency techniques on live mice.

(00:18:30) Transparency in Nature

How some species have naturally transparent tissue.

(00:19:52) Human Eye and Protein Transparency

The unique proteins that keep our lenses clear using similar physics.

(00:22:24) Wireless Light Inside the Body

Developing ultrasound-activated light sources for tissue imaging.

(00:24:55) Precision of Ultrasound Light

How precisely ultrasound can trigger tiny particles to emit light.

(00:28:14) Conclusion

Connect With Us:

Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website

Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon

Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook

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