Browsing by Author "Xu, Yong"

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    3-D Bio-inspired Microenvironments for In Vitro Cell Migration
    Hosseini, Seyed Yahya (Virginia Tech, 2015-10-21)
    Cancer metastasis is the leading cause of death related to cancer diseases. Once the cancer cells depart the primary tumor site and enter the blood circulation, they spread through the body and will likely initiate a new tumor site. Therefore, understanding the cell migration and stopping the spread in the initial stage is the utmost of importance. In this dissertation, we have proposed a 3-D microenvironment that (partially) mimics the structures, complexity and circulation of human organs for cell migration studies. We have developed the tools to fabricate 3-D complex geometries in PDMS from our previously developed single-mask, single-etch technology in silicon. In this work, 3-D patterns are transferred from silicon structures to glass following anodic bonding and high temperature glass re-flow processes. Silicon is etched back thoroughly via wet etching and the glass is used as master device to create 3-D PDMS structures for use in dielectrophoresis cell sorting applications. Furthermore, this work has been modified to fabricate 3-D master devices in PDMS to create 3-D structures in collagen hydrogels to mimic native tissue structures. We have studied the interaction of endothelial cells with model geometries of blood vessels in collagen hydrogel at different concentrations to mimic the biomechanical properties of tissues varying from normal to tumor under the growth factor stimulation. Finally, we have designed and fabricated a silicon-based transmigration well with a 30um-thick membrane and 8um pores. This platform includes a deep microfluidic channel on the back-side sealed with a glass wafer. The migratory behavior of highly metastatic breast cancer cells, MDA-MB-231, is tested under different drug treatment conditions. This versatile platform will enable the application of more complex fluidic circulation profile, enhanced integration with other technologies, and running multiple assays simultaneously.
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    Adaptive Control of Waveguide Modes in Two-Mode Fibers
    Lu, Peng (Virginia Tech, 2016-04-04)
    Few mode fibers and multimode fibers (MMFs) are traditionally regarded as unsuitable for important applications such as communications and sensing. A major challenge in using MMFs for aforementioned applications is how to precisely control the waveguide modes propagating within MMFs. In this thesis, we experimentally demonstrate a generic method for controlling the linearly polarized (LP) modes within a two-mode fiber (TMF). Our method is based on adaptive optics (AO), where one utilizes proper feedback signals to shape the wavefront of the input beam in order to achieve the desired LP mode composition. In the first part of this thesis, we demonstrate the feasibility of AO-based mode control by using the correlation between the experimentally measured field distribution and the desired mode profiles as feedback for wavefront optimization. Selectively excitation of pure LP modes or their combinations at the distal end of a TMF are shown. Furthermore, we demonstrate that selective mode excitation in the TMF can be achieved by using only 5×5 independent phase blocks. Afterwards, we extend our AO-based mode control method to more practical scenarios, where feedback signals are provided by all-fiber devices such as a directional fiber coupler or fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). Using the coupling ratio of a directional coupler as feedback, we demonstrate adaptive control of LP modes at the two output ports of the directional coupler. With feedback determined by the relative magnitude of optical power reflected by a FBG and the transmitted power, selective excitations of the LP01 and the LP11 modes are experimentally shown. As the final component of this thesis, we experimentally combine the AO-based mode control with time-division-multiplexing. By choosing reflected pulses with appropriate arrival time for mode control, we can selectively excite the LP11 mode at different FBG locations within the TMF, based on the ratio of optical signals reflected by FBGs in the TMF and the transmitted signal. Using two lasers set at the two FBG peak reflection wavelengths associated with the LP01 and the LP11 modes, we can accomplish AO-based mode control within a TMF by using only the reflection signals from the FBG. By using the ratio of the reflected signals of two lasers as feedback, we demonstrate selective excitation of almost pure LP01 or LP11 mode at the FBG location within the TMF. The method developed in this thesis is generic and can be extended to many other applications using appropriately chosen feedback signals. It is possible to generalize the AO-based mode control method to MMF as well. This method may find important applications in MMF-based communication, sensing and imaging et. al. in the future.
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    Adaptive Mode Control in Few-Mode and Highly Multimode Fibers
    Qiu, Tong (Virginia Tech, 2018)
    Few-mode fibers (FMFs) and multimode fibers (MMFs) can provide much higher data-carrying capacities compared with single-mode fibers. But in order to achieve this goal, one must address the challenge of intermodal coupling and dispersion. Therefore the ability to accurately control the optical signal propagation in FMFs/MMFs can play a pivotal role in FMF/MMF applications. This thesis demonstrates the ability to excite, in FMFs and MMFs, the desired linearly polarized (LP) modes as well as their superpositions through adaptive optics (AO). Specifically, in the case of step-index FMFs, a phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM) is employed to manipulate the light at the fiber input end, driven by the feedback signal provided by the correlation between the charge coupled device (CCD) camera captured images at the fiber output end and the target light intensity profile. Through such an adaptive optical system, any arbitrarily selected LP modes can be excited at the distal end of the four-mode and seventeen-mode fibers, respectively. For a graded-index MMF with a uniform Bragg grating, we use a deformable mirror (DM) to perform the wavefront modulation at the fiber input end, where the feedback is based on the ratio of the grating-reflected signal power to the transmitted signal power. At the Bragg grating position of this highly multimode fiber, any desired principal mode groups can be successfully chosen. These experimental results suggest that adaptive control of optical wavefront in FMFs/MMFs is indeed feasible.
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    Characterization of Optical Coupling and Back-reflection of Few Mode Fibers
    Shipton, Matthew J. (Virginia Tech, 2015-09-01)
    The continued growth of the communications industry has caused interest in mode-division multiplexing (MDM) techniques to flourish in recent years. These techniques allow individual waveguide modes to be used as distinct channels. However, as with any versatile technique, it should be also useful and beneficial to extend its application to other areas. This work concerns itself with an initial conceptual design of a mode-division multiplexing (MDM) enabled optical sensor network that can use modes to interrogate either specific sensors or sensor subsystems, and specifically with quanitizing and optimizing the injection and detection of the signal of interest. A hypothetical test setup is demonstrated, and the major issue of back reflection burying the intended signal is addressed, analyzed, and improved. Improvements in the signal-to-background contrast ratio (SBCR) of approximately 10dB were achieved depending on fibre type and proximal face. Suggestions for extensions to further improve the SBCR as well as for applications of this system are discussed.
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    Characterizing ultrashort optical pulses using second-order nonlinear nanoprobes
    Li, H. F.; Zhang, Z.; Xu, Q. A.; Shi, K. B.; Jia, Y. S.; Zhang, B. G.; Xu, Yong; Liu, Z. W. (AIP Publishing, 2010-12-01)
    We report a second-order nonlinear nanoprobe for characterizing ultrafast optical near fields. The proposed nanoprobe comprises second harmonic nanocrystals attached to a carbon nanotube, which is in turn attached to a silica fiber taper. We demonstrate in situ pulse characterization directly in the air core of a photonic crystal fiber. Further, it is shown that nanoprobes containing a single nanocrystal in the tip of the nanotube can be fabricated by auxiliary focused ion beam nanomilling. These results indicate that the proposed nanoprobe can open an avenue for probing the evolution of ultrafast optical fields in complex three-dimensional micro-or nanostructures. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3532112]
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    Demonstration Of A Cylindrically Symmetric Second-Order Nonlinear Fiber with Self-Assembled Organic Surface Layers
    Daengngam, Chalongrat; Hofmann, M.; Liu, Z. W.; Wang, Anbo; Heflin, James R.; Xu, Yong (Optical Society of America, 2011-05-01)
    We report the fabrication and characterization of a cylindrically symmetric fiber structure that possesses significant and thermodynamically stable second-order nonlinearity. Such fiber structure is produced through nanoscale self-assembly of nonlinear molecules on a silica fiber taper and possesses full rotational symmetry. Despite its highly symmetric configuration, we observed significant second harmonic generation (SHG) and obtained good agreement between experimental results and theoretical predictions. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America
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    Design and nondestructive imaging of a bioengineered vascular graft endothelium
    Whited, Bryce Matthew (Virginia Tech, 2013-02-01)
    Cardiovascular disease is currently the leading cause of death in the U.S. that frequently requires bypass surgery using vascular grafts for treatment. Current limitations with fully synthetic grafts have led researchers to bioengineered alternatives that consist of a combination of vascular scaffolds and cells. A major challenge in creating a functional bioengineered vascular graft is development of a confluent endothelium on the lumen that is able to resist detachment under physiologic fluid flow. In addition, methodologies used to assess the growth and maturation of the endothelium in a noninvasive and dynamic manner are severely lacking. Therefore, the overall goal of this research is to advance the field of vascular tissue engineering by 1) creating methodologies to enhance EC adherence to a vascular graft and 2) development of a noninvasive and real-time imaging system capable of assessing the graft endothelium.  To achieve these objectives, three separate studies were performed. In the first study, electrospun scaffold fiber diameter and alignment were systematically varied to determine their effect on endothelial cell (EC) morphology and adherence under fluid flow. ECs on uniaxially aligned nanofibers displayed elongated and aligned morphologies leading to higher adherence to the scaffolds under physiologic levels of fluid flow as compared to those on randomly oriented scaffolds. In the second study, a fiber optic based (FOB) imaging system was developed to image fluorescent ECs through a thick electrospun scaffold.  Results demonstrated that the FOB imaging system was able to accurately visualize fluorescent ECs in a noninvasive manner through the thick and highly opaque scaffold. In the final study, the FOB imaging system was used to noninvasively quantify vascular graft endothelialization, EC detachment, and apoptosis through the vessel wall with greater imaging penetration depth than two-photon microscopy. Additionally, the FOB method was capable of continuously tracking EC migration and endothelialization of a bioengineered graft in a bioreactor. Overall, these results demonstrate that aligned scaffold topographies enhance EC adherence under fluid flow and the FOB imaging system is a promising tool to monitor endothelium development and response to fluid flow in a manner that has not previously been afforded using conventional imaging methods.
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    Design of optical characteristics of ceria nanoparticles for applications including gas sensing and up-conversion
    Shehata, Nader (Virginia Tech, 2012-12-13)
    This thesis investigates the impact of doping on the optical and structural characteristics of cerium oxide (ceria) nanoparticles synthesized using chemical precipitation. The dopants selected are samarium and neodymium, which have positive association energy with oxygen vacancies in the ceria host, and negative association lanthanides, holmium and erbium, as well as two metal dopants, aluminum and iron. Characteristics measured are absorption and fluorescence spectra and the diameter and lattice parameter of ceria. Analysis of the characteristics indicates qualitatively that the dopant controls the O-vacancy concentration and the ratio of the two cerium ionization states: Ce+3 and Ce+4. A novel conclusion is proposed that the negative association lanthanide dopants can act as O-vacancies scavengers in ceria while the O-vacancy concentration increases in ceria doped with positive association lanthanide elements. Doped ceria nanoparticles are evaluated in two applications: dissolved oxygen (DO) sensing and up-conversion. In the first application, ceria doped with either Sm or Nd and ceria doped with aluminum have a strong correlation between the fluorescence quenching with the DO concentration in the aqueous solution in which the ceria nanoparticles are suspended. Stern-Volmer constants (KSV) of doped ceria are found to strongly depend upon the O-vacancy concentration and are larger than some of the fluorescent molecular probes currently used to measure DO. The KSV measured between 25-50oC is found to be significantly less temperature dependent as compared to the constants of commercially-available DO molecular probes. In the second application, up-conversion, ceria nanoparticles doped with erbium and an additional lanthanide, either Sm or Nd, are exposed to IR radiation at 780 nm. Visible emission is only observed after the nanoparticles are calcinated at high temperature, greatly diminishing the concentration of O-vacancies. It is concluded that O-vacancies do not play a dominant role in up-conversion, unlike that drawn for down-conversion, where the fluorescence intensity is strongly correlated with the O-vacancy concentration. Correlations between annealing temperatures, dopant, and dopant concentrations with the power dependence of up-conversion on the pump and the origin of the intensities of the visible emission are presented. These studies show the promise of doped ceria nanoparticles.
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    Development of a Miniature, Semi-Distributed Sapphire Fiber Optic Thermometer for Harsh and High Temperature Environments
    DePew, Keith Alan (Virginia Tech, 2013-01-22)
    Fiber optic temperature sensing has become a well-defined field in the past few decades [1] through the use of Fiber Bragg Gratings, Fabry-Perot interferometry, and pyrometry, to list several techniques in use today.  The use of fiber optics offers significant advantages over electronic sensing in terms of size and insensitivity to harsh conditions such as extreme temperatures and corrosive environments.  The availability of optical sapphire materials, including fibers, has allowed the creation of fiber optic sensing elements able to continuously operate at temperatures of 1600"C [2] or more, thus outstripping the abilities of many commonly used thermocouples (excluding platinum types R, S, and B) [3] which will also exhibit a sensitivity to electromagnetic fields. In addition to the aforementioned benefits, fiber optic sensing techniques provide a great deal of accuracy in temperature measurement over the entire working range of the sensor. The work documented in this thesis consists of efforts to minimize the overall footprint of a sapphire based extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometry (EFPI) temperature sensing element, as well as strides made in multiplexing the same element and reducing the error potential from cross sensitivity of the thermometer with applied strain.  This work has been variously funded by Pratt & Whitney and the Department of Energy.
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    Development of a nonlinear nanoprobe for interferometric autocorrelation based characterization of ultrashort optical pulses
    Li, H. F.; Jia, Y. S.; Xu, Q.; Shi, K. B.; Wu, J.; Eklund, P. C.; Xu, Yong; Liu, Z. W. (AIP Publishing, 2010-01-01)
    Near-field scanning can achieve nanoscale resolution while ultrashort pulse diagnostic tools can characterize femtosecond pulses. Yet currently it is still challenging to nonperturbatively characterize the near field of an ultrashort optical pulse with nanofemtoscale spatiotemporal resolution. To address this challenge, we propose to develop a nonlinear nanoprobe composed of a silica fiber taper, a nanowire, and nonlinear fluorescent spheres. Using such a nanoprobe, we also report proof-of-principle characterization of femtosecond optical pulse through interferometric autocorrelation measurement.
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    Diode Laser Spectroscopy for Measurements of Gas Parameters in Harsh Environments
    Behera, Amiya Ranjan (Virginia Tech, 2017-03-06)
    The detection and measurement of gas properties has become essential to meet rigorous criteria of environmental unfriendly emissions and to increase the energy production efficiency. Although low cost devices such as pellistors, semiconductor gas sensors or electrochemical gas sensors can be used for these applications, they offer a very limited lifetime and suffer from cross-response and drift. On the contrary, gas sensors based on optical absorption offer fast response, zero drift, and high sensitivity with zero cross response to other gases. Hence, over the last forty years, diode laser spectroscopy (DLS) has become an established method for non-intrusive measurement of gas properties in scientific as well as industrial applications. Wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) is derivative form of DLS that has been increasingly applied for making self-calibrated measurements in harsh environments due to its improved sensitivity and noise rejection capability compared to direct absorption detection. But, the complexity in signal processing and higher scope of error (when certain restrictions on operating conditions are not met), have inhibited the widespread use of the technique. This dissertation presents a simple and novel strategy for practical implementation of WMS with commercial diode lasers. It eliminates the need for pre-characterization of laser intensity parameters or making any design changes to the conventional WMS system. Consequently, sensitivity and signal strength remain the same as that obtained from traditional WMS setup at low modulation amplitude. Like previously proposed calibration-free approaches, this new method also yields absolute gas absorption line shape or absorbance function. Residual Amplitude Modulation (RAM) contributions present in the first and second harmonic signals of WMS are recovered by exploiting their even or odd symmetric nature. These isolated RAM signals are then used to estimate the absolute line shape function and thus removing the impact of optical intensity fluctuations on measurement. Uncertainties and noises associated with the estimated absolute line shape function, and the applicability of this new method for detecting several important gases in the near infrared region are also discussed. Absorbance measurements from 1% and 8% methane-air mixtures in 60 to 100 kPa pressure range are used to demonstrate simultaneous recovery of gas concentration and pressure. The system is also proved to be self-calibrated by measuring the gas absorbance for 1% methane-air mixture while optical transmission loss changes by 12 dB. In addition to this, a novel method for diode laser absorption spectroscopy has been proposed to accomplish spatially distributed monitoring of gases. Emission frequency chirp exhibited by semiconductor diode lasers operating in pulsed current mode, is exploited to capture full absorption response spectrum from a target gas. This new technique is referred to as frequency chirped diode laser spectroscopy (FC-DLS). By applying an injection current pulse of nanosecond duration to the diode laser, both spectroscopic properties of the gas and spatial location of sensing probe can be recovered following traditional Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) approach. Based on FC-DLS principle, calibration-free measurement of gas absorbance is experimentally demonstrated for two separate sets of gas mixtures of approximately 5% to 20% methane-air and 0.5% to 20% acetylene-air. Finally, distributed gas monitoring is shown by measuring acetylene absorbance from two sensor probes connected in series along a single mode fiber. Optical pulse width being 10 nanosecond or smaller in the sensing optical fiber, a spatial resolution better than 1 meter has been realized by this technique. These demonstrations prove that accurate, non-intrusive, single point, and spatially distributed measurements can be made in harsh environments using the diode laser spectroscopy technology. Consequently, it opens the door to practical implementation of optical gas sensors in a variety of new environments that were previously too difficult.
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    Dissolved Gas Analysis of Insulating Transformer Oil Using Optical Fiber
    Overby, Alan Bland (Virginia Tech, 2014-06-08)
    The power industry relies on high voltage transformers as the backbone of power distribution networks. High voltage transformers are designed to handle immense electrical loads in hostile environments. Long term placement is desired, however by being under constant heavy load transformers face mechanical, thermal, and electrical stresses which lead to failures of the protection systems in place. The service life of a transformer is often limited by the life time of its insulation system. Insulation failures most often develop from thermal faults, or hotspots, and electrical faults, or partial discharges. Detecting hotspots and partial discharges to predict transformer life times is imperative and much research is focused towards these topics. As these protection systems fail they often generate gas or acoustic signals signifying a problem. Research has already been performed discovering new ways integrate optical fiber sensors into high voltage transformers. This thesis is a continuation of that research by attempting to improve sensor sensitivity for hydrogen and acetylene gasses. Of note is the fabrication of new hydrogen sensing fiber for operation around a larger absorption peak and also the improvement of the acetylene sensor's light source stability. Also detailed is the manufacturing of a field testable prototype and the non-sensitivity testing of several other gasses. The developed sensors are capable but still could be improved with the use of more powerful and stable light sources.
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    Distributed Pressure and Temperature Sensing Based on Stimulated Brillouin Scattering
    Wang, Jing (Virginia Tech, 2013-12-09)
    Brillouin scattering has been verified to be an effective mechanism in temperature and strain sensing. This kind of sensors can be applied to civil structural monitoring of pipelines, railroads, and other industries for disaster prevention. This thesis first presents a novel fiber sensing scheme for long-span fully-distributed pressure measurement based on Brillouin scattering in a side-hole fiber. After that, it demonstrates that Brillouin frequency keeps linear relation with temperature up to 1000°C; Brillouin scattering is a promising mechanism in high temperature distributed sensing. A side-hole fiber has two longitudinal air holes in the fiber cladding. When a pressure is applied on the fiber, the two principal axes of the fiber birefringence yield different Brillouin frequency shifts in the Brillouin scattering. The differential Brillouin scattering continuously along the fiber thus permits distributed pressure measurement. Our sensor system was designed to analyze the Brillouin scattering in the two principal axes of a side-hole fiber in time domain. The developed system was tested under pressure from 0 to 10,000 psi for 100m and 600m side-hole fibers, respectively. Experimental results show fibers with side holes of different sizes possess different pressure sensitivities. The highest sensitivity of the measured pressure induced differential Brillouin frequency shift is 0.0012MHz/psi. The demonstrated spatial resolution is 2m, which maybe further improved by using shorter light pulses.
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    Dynamic Non-Destructive Monitoring of Bioengineered Blood Vessel Development  within a Bioreactor using Multi-Modality Imaging
    Gurjarpadhye, Abhijit Achyut (Virginia Tech, 2013-08-20)
    Regenerative medicine involves formation of tissue or organ for replacement of a wounded or dysfunctional tissue. Healthy cells extracted from the patient are expanded and are seeded on a three-dimensional biodegradable scaffold. The structure is then placed in a bioreactor and is provided with nutrients for the cells, which proliferate and migrate throughout the scaffold to eventually form a desired to tissue that can be transplanted into the patient's body.  Inability to monitor this complex process of regeneration in real-time makes control and optimization of this process extremely difficult. Histology, the gold standard used for tissue structural assessment, is a static technique that only provides "snapshots" of the progress and requires the specimen to be sacrificed. This inefficiency severely limits our understanding of the biological processes associated with tissue growth during the in vitro pre-conditioning phase. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) enables imaging of cross sectional structure in biological tissues by measuring the echo time delay of backreflected light. OCT has recently emerged as an important method to assess the structures of physiological, pathological as well as tissue engineered blood vessels. The goal of the present study is to develop an imaging system for non-destructive monitoring of blood vessels maturing within a bioreactor. Non-destructive structural imaging of tissue-engineered blood vessels cultured in a novel bioreactor was performed using free-space and catheter-based OCT imaging, while monitoring of the endothelium development was performed using a fluorescence imaging system that utilizes a commercial OCT catheter. The project included execution of three specific aims. Firstly, we developed OCT instrumentation to determine geometrical and optical properties of porcine and human skin in real-time. The purpose of the second aim was to assess structural development of tissue-engineered blood vessels maturing in a bioreactor. We constructed a novel quartz-based bioreactor that will permit free space and catheter-based OCT imaging of vascular grafts. The grafts were made of biodegradable PCL-collagen and seeded with multipotent mesenchymal cells. We imaged the maturing grafts over 30 days to assess changes in graft wall thickness. We also monitored change in optical properties of the grafts based on free-space OCT scanning.   Finally, in order to visualize the proliferation of endothelial cells and development of the endothelium, we developed an imaging system that utilizes a commercial OCT catheter for single-cell-level imaging of the growing endothelium of a tissue-engineered blood vessel. We have developed two modules of an imaging system for non-destructive monitoring of maturing bioengineered vascular grafts. The first module provides the ability to non-destructively examine the structure of the grafts while the second module can track the progress of endothelialization. As both modules use the same endoscope for imaging, when operated in sequence, they will produce high-resolution, three-dimensional, structural details of the graft and two-dimensional spatial distribution of ECs on the lumen. This non-destructive, multi-modality imaging can be potentially used to monitor and assess the development of luminal bioengineered constructs such as colon or trachea.
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    Dynamic, Nondestructive Imaging of a Bioengineered Vascular Graft Endothelium
    Whited, Bryce M.; Hofmann, Matthias C.; Lu, Peng; Xu, Yong; Rylander, Christopher G.; Wang, Ge; Sapoznik, Etai; Criswell, Tracy; Lee, Sang Jin; Soker, Shay; Rylander, M. Nichole (PLOS, 2013-04-09)
    Bioengineering of vascular grafts holds great potential to address the shortcomings associated with autologous and conventional synthetic vascular grafts used for small diameter grafting procedures. Lumen endothelialization of bioengineered vascular grafts is essential to provide an antithrombogenic graft surface to ensure long-term patency after implantation. Conventional methods used to assess endothelialization in vitro typically involve periodic harvesting of the graft for histological sectioning and staining of the lumen. Endpoint testing methods such as these are effective but do not provide real-time information of endothelial cells in their intact microenvironment, rather only a single time point measurement of endothelium development. Therefore, nondestructive methods are needed to provide dynamic information of graft endothelialization and endothelium maturation in vitro. To address this need, we have developed a nondestructive fiber optic based (FOB) imaging method that is capable of dynamic assessment of graft endothelialization without disturbing the graft housed in a bioreactor. In this study we demonstrate the capability of the FOB imaging method to quantify electrospun vascular graft endothelialization, EC detachment, and apoptosis in a nondestructive manner. The electrospun scaffold fiber diameter of the graft lumen was systematically varied and the FOB imaging system was used to noninvasively quantify the affect of topography on graft endothelialization over a 7-day period. Additionally, results demonstrated that the FOB imaging method had a greater imaging penetration depth than that of two-photon microscopy. This imaging method is a powerful tool to optimize vascular grafts and bioreactor conditions in vitro, and can be further adapted to monitor endothelium maturation and response to fluid flow bioreactor preconditioning.
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    Effects of Metallic Nanoalloys on Dye Fluorescence
    Dorcéna, Cassandre Jenny (Virginia Tech, 2007-09-05)
    Metallic nanoparticles (NPs) are exploited for their ability to interact with organic compounds and to increase significantly the fluorescence intensity and the photostability of many fluorescent dye molecules. Metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF) is therefore widely investigated for biosensing applications. When used in immunoassays, silver island films (SIFs) could augment the fluorescence intensity of fluorescein by a factor of seventeen; SIFs were also able to double or triple the emission intensity of cyanine dyes which are commonly used in (deoxyribonucleic acid) DNA microarrays. The emission intensity of indocyanine green — widely used as a contrast agent in medical imaging — was about twenty times higher in the proximity of SIFs. This enhancement phenomenon — due to the surface plasmon polaritons associated with the metallic NPs — can be explained by energy transfer from the metal NPs to the fluorescent dye molecules or by a modified local electromagnetic field experienced by the fluorophores in the vicinity of metal surfaces. Our research focused on the optical characterization of colloidal gold-silver alloy NPs containing different ratios of gold and silver (Au1.00-Ag0.00, Au0.75-Ag0.25, Au0.50-Ag0.50, and Au0.25-Ag0.75), as well as their interaction with three fluorophores: rose bengal, rhodamine B, and fluorescein sodium. Depending upon the dye quantum yield and its concentration in solution, enhancement or quenching of fluorescence was obtained. Thus, a three to five times increase in fluorescence intensity was observed in a 2.0 mM solution of rose bengal with all nanoalloys, a slight enhancement of fluorescence (1.2 – 1.6 times) was noticed in a 0.13 mM solution of rhodamine B with all four types of NPs, and fluorescence quenching occurred in all the fluorescein-NP solutions regardless of the dye concentration.
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    Fabrication of Fluorescent Nanoprobes and Their Applications in Nanophotonics
    Jia, Yaoshun (Virginia Tech, 2008-12-10)
    In recent years, nanoprobe-based devices have attracted significant attention and found a wide range of applications, including nanostructure imaging, single molecular detection, and physical, chemical, and biological sensing applications. However, since the scale of nanodevices is substantially less than the optical diffraction limit, their fabrication remains a difficult challenge. Despite significant efforts, most of the fabrication techniques developed so far require expensive equipment and complicated processing procedures, which has hindered their applications. In this thesis, we developed a new class of fluorescent nanoprobes consist of a silica fiber taper, a single carbon nanotube, and nanoscale fluorescent elements (such as semiconductor quantum dots). This nanoprobe provides a natural interface between the nanoscale structures (i.e., the fluorescent elements) and the microscale structure (i.e., the fiber taper), which can significantly simplify their fabrication. Furthermore, since the nanoscale fluorescent elements are produced through bottom-up processes such as chemical synthesis, we can easily tailor the functionalities of such fluorescent nanoprobes to many different applications in nanophotonics, including near field imaging, nonlinear optics mapping, and quantum electrodynamics. We have custom designed an optical system for this nanoprobe fabrication. We have characterized the nanoprobes using transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) and performed preliminary experiments on near field scanning. Our current fabrication/imaging systems can be readily upgraded to achieve more advanced applications in nonlinear optics and quantum optics.
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    Fabry-Perot Sapphire Temperature Sensor for Use in Coal Gasification
    Ivanov, Georgi Pavlov (Virginia Tech, 2011-05-03)
    Sapphire fiber based temperature sensors are exceptional in their ability to operate at temperatures above 1000C and as high as 1800C. Sapphire fiber technology is emerging and the fiber is available commercially. Sapphire fiber has a high loss, is highly multi-mode and does not have a solid cladding, but it is nonetheless very useful in high temperature applications. Of the available interferometer configurations, Fabry-Perot interferometers are distinguished in their high accuracy and great isolation from sources of error. In this thesis, improvements are reported to an existing design to enhance its reliability and to reduce possible modes of failure. The existing high temperature sensor design has shown a lot of potential in the past by continuously measuring the temperature in a coal gasifier for 7 months, but its true potential has not yet been realized. The goal of this work and the work of many others is to extend the working life and reliability of high-temperature optical sapphire temperature sensors in harsh environments by exploring a solid cladding for sapphire fiber, improved fringe visibility sapphire wafers and a new sensor design. This project is supported by the National Energy and Technology Laboratory of the Department of Energy.
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    Fiber Optic Sensors for On-Line, Real Time Power Transformer Health Monitoring
    Dong, Bo (Virginia Tech, 2012-08-09)
    High voltage power transformer is one of the most important and expensive components in today's power transmission and distribution systems. Any overlooked critical fault generated inside a power transformer may lead to a transformer catastrophic failure which could not only cause a disruption to the power system but also significant equipment damage. Accurate and prompt information on the health state of a transformer is thus the critical prerequisite for an asset manager to make a vital decision on a transformer with suspicious conditions. Partial discharge (PD) is not only a precursor of insulation degradation, but also a primary factor to accelerate the deterioration of the insulation system in a transformer. Monitoring of PD activities and the concentration of PD generated combustible gases dissolved in the transformer oil has been proven to be an effective procedure for transformer health state estimation. However current commercially available sensors can only be installed outside of transformers and offer indirect or delayed information. This research is aimed to investigate and develop several sensor techniques for transformer health monitoring. The first work is an optical fiber extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric sensor for PD detection. By filling SF6 into the sensor air cavity of the extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer sensor, the last potential obstacle that prevents this kind of sensors from being installed inside transformers has been removed. The proposed acoustic sensor multiplexing system is stable and more economical than the other sensor multiplexing methods that usually require the use of a tunable laser or filters. Two dissolved gas analysis (DGA) methods for dissolved hydrogen or acetylene measurement are also proposed and demonstrated. The dissolved hydrogen detection is based on hydrogen induced fiber loss and the dissolved acetylene detection is by direct oil transmission measurement.
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    Fiber-Optic Sensors for Fully-Distributed Physical, Chemical and Biological Measurement
    Wang, Yunjing (Virginia Tech, 2013-01-21)
    Distributed sensing is highly desirable in a wide range of civil, industrial and military applications. The current technologies for distributed sensing are mainly based on the detection of optical signals resulted from different elastic or non-elastic light-matter interactions including Rayleigh, Raman and Brillouin scattering. However, they can measure temperature or strain only to date. Therefore, there is a need for technologies that can further expand measurement parameters even to chemical and biological stimuli to fulfill different application needs. This dissertation presents a fully-distributed fiber-optic sensing technique based on a traveling long-period grating (T-LPG) in a single-mode fiber. The T-LPG is generated by pulsed acoustic waves that propagate along the fiber. When there are changes in the fiber surrounding medium or in the fiber surface coating, induced by various physical, chemical or biological stimuli, the optical transmission spectrum of the T-LPG may shift. Therefore, by measuring the T-LPG resonance wavelength at different locations along the fiber, distributed measurement can be realized for a number of parameters beyond temperature and strain. Based on this platform, fully-distributed temperature measurement in a 2.5m fiber was demonstrated. Then by coating the fiber with functional coatings, fully-distributed biological and chemical sensing was also demonstrated. In the biological sensing experiment, immunoglobulin G (IgG) was immobilized onto the fiber surface, and the experimental results show that only specific antigen-antibody binding can introduce a measurable shift in the transmission optical spectrum of the T-LPG when it passes through the pretreated fiber segment. In the hydrogen sensing experiment, the fiber was coated with a platinum (Pt) catalyst layer, which is heated by the thermal energy released from Pt-assisted combustion of H2 and O2, and the resulted temperature change gives rise to a measurable T-LPG wavelength shift when the T-LPG passes through. Hydrogen concentration from 1% to 3.8% was detected in the experiment. This technique may also permit measurement of other quantities by changing the functional coating on the fiber; therefore it is expected to be capable of other fully-distributed sensing applications.