Skip to main content

Site navigation

  • University of Technology Sydney home
  • Home

    Home
  • For students

  • For industry

  • Research

Explore

  • Courses
  • Events
  • News
  • Stories
  • People

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Study at UTS

    • arrow_right_alt Find a course
    • arrow_right_alt Course areas
    • arrow_right_alt Undergraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Postgraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Research Masters and PhD
    • arrow_right_alt Online study and short courses
  • Student information

    • arrow_right_alt Current students
    • arrow_right_alt New UTS students
    • arrow_right_alt Graduates (Alumni)
    • arrow_right_alt High school students
    • arrow_right_alt Indigenous students
    • arrow_right_alt International students
  • Admissions

    • arrow_right_alt How to apply
    • arrow_right_alt Entry pathways
    • arrow_right_alt Eligibility
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for students

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Apply for a coursearrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Scholarshipsarrow_right_alt
  • Featured industries

    • arrow_right_alt Agriculture and food
    • arrow_right_alt Defence and space
    • arrow_right_alt Energy and transport
    • arrow_right_alt Government and policy
    • arrow_right_alt Health and medical
    • arrow_right_alt Corporate training
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Tech Central
    • arrow_right_alt Case studies
    • arrow_right_alt Research
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for industry

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Partner with usarrow_right_alt
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Explore our research
    • arrow_right_alt Research centres and institutes
    • arrow_right_alt Graduate research
    • arrow_right_alt Research partnerships
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for research

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Research centres and institutesarrow_right_alt
  • University of Technology Sydney home
Explore the University of Technology Sydney
Category Filters:
University of Technology Sydney home University of Technology Sydney home
  1. home
  2. arrow_forward_ios ... Newsroom
  3. arrow_forward_ios ... 2018
  4. arrow_forward_ios 01
  5. arrow_forward_ios New class of tiny sensors become cellular explorers

New class of tiny sensors become cellular explorers

31 January 2018

Researchers from the UTS Institute for Biomedical Materials and Devices (IBMD) have developed a new microscopy technique, aimed at improving the resolution and sensitivity of nanoscale imaging. The discovery allows the human eye to track a single molecule and inspect its behaviour inside a living cell.

Dr Fan Wang in lab

Dr Fan Wang’s pioneering bio-photonics research means the human eye can track a single molecule and inspect its behaviour inside a living cell. Credit: Image supplied by IBMD.

The pioneering research, published in the Nature journal Light: Science & Applications, means problems with imaging resolution and sensitivity can be overcome using relatively inexpensive, standard microscopes

Using a new class of nanoparticle sensors - upconversion Super Dots - that convert low-energy near-infrared photons into high-energy visible emissions, scientists have defined how many single photons are needed for the human eye to track a colour-tagged single molecule inside a living cell. The answer is 4000 photons per 100 milliseconds under a simple microscope setup!

This advance offers new tools for studying what is happening inside the cellular compartments responsible for how our bodies function and respond to treatments for disease and infection.

“Subcellular research is the new frontier in biomedical science and nanoparticles are the new tools for super resolution imaging and drug delivery,” says lead author Dr Fan Wang, a senior research fellow at IBMD.

Now we are developing new tools to enable the inspection of the individual cells in real time. At that intracellular level you get a fundamental understanding about how cancer spreads or how a particular treatment might work.

“Medicine has progressed from looking at symptoms from the outside of a person, to assess their health conditions, to looking inside using endoscopes and scans. Now we are developing new tools to enable the inspection of the individual cells in real time. At that intracellular level you get a fundamental understanding about how cancer spreads or how a particular treatment might work,” Dr Wang says.

Superdots

A new class of nanosensors means sub cellular research is now possible and will answer questions about how our bodies function and respond to treatments for disease and infection. Credit: Fan Wang

“Our new generation of Super Dots sensors are stable, non-toxic, background free and very uniform, making them ideal for bio-imaging,” Dr Wang says.

The research complements the volumetric imaging platform IBMD is developing to decode the traffic conditions and environment to build a 3D “street view” inside living cells.

IBMD Director Professor Dayong Jin likened the development to having a Google car with sensing capabilities to detect a traffic jam.

“This new imaging technique is capable of monitoring, or tracking, a single optical sensor with high temporal, spectral and spatial resolution through cellular compartments,” Prof Jin says.

“We can measure the viscosity of the intracellular environment which means we can feel the ‘strength’ of each intracellular component and how they talk to each other,” Prof Jin says.

Dr Wang adds the new technique provides a fifth dimension for our eyes to simultaneously discriminate between multiple sets of single nanoparticles sensors, and gives colour-blind observers the ability to use fluorescence microscopes.

Funding:
Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council

Publication details:
Microscopic inspection and tracking of single upconversion in living cells. Fan Wang, Shihui Wen, Hao He, Baoming Wang, Zhiguang Zhou, Olga Shimoni, Dayong Jin Light: Science & Applications (2018) doi: 10.1038/lsa.2018.7

Share
Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share this on LinkedIn
Back to News in the Institute for Biomedical Materials and Devices

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation and the Boorooberongal People of the Dharug Nation upon whose ancestral lands our campuses now stand. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands. 

University of Technology Sydney

City Campus

15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007

Get in touch with UTS

Follow us

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Facebook

A member of

  • Australian Technology Network
Use arrow keys to navigate within each column of links. Press Tab to move between columns.

Study

  • Find a course
  • Undergraduate
  • Postgraduate
  • How to apply
  • Scholarships and prizes
  • International students
  • Campus maps
  • Accommodation

Engage

  • Find an expert
  • Industry
  • News
  • Events
  • Experience UTS
  • Research
  • Stories
  • Alumni

About

  • Who we are
  • Faculties
  • Learning and teaching
  • Sustainability
  • Initiatives
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Campus and locations
  • Awards and rankings
  • UTS governance

Staff and students

  • Current students
  • Help and support
  • Library
  • Policies
  • StaffConnect
  • Working at UTS
  • UTS Handbook
  • Contact us
  • Copyright © 2025
  • ABN: 77 257 686 961
  • CRICOS provider number: 00099F
  • TEQSA provider number: PRV12060
  • TEQSA category: Australian University
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Accessibility