Intact neuronal cells consisting of soma (the main cell body), dendrites (structures that branch off the soma), and the axon (a long extension from the cell body that connects to other soma, dendrites, or axons) process and transfer information via electrical impulses and chemical signals. Of course, when these neuronal pathways are disrupted, communication is broken, causing the muscles normally innervated by these synaptic pathways to atrophy and/or die.
Until now, it was not possible to reconnect neuronal tissue. But thanks to ongoing applications development for ultrafast lasers, researchers at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB, Canada) have used a near-infrared femtosecond laser with 1.7 (± 0.08) × 1012 W/cm2 intensity and ± 0.5 μm aiming accuracy to perform "hemifusion" of healthy soma and axons. Through ultrafast multiphoton and avalanche ionization processes, the laser pulses induce molecular rearrangement of the phospholipid bilayers, allowing photo-induced ions and electrons to cross over to the central nonpolar region of the phospholipid bilayer and break the bonds of the fatty acid tails, after which the ionized phospholipid molecules seek an equilibrium state and form new bonds with nearby ions. This cross-linking process forms a strong, shared phospholipid bilayer or hemifused membrane—an important implication for potential studies into neuronal regeneration and repair. Reference: N. Katchinskiy et al., Sci. Rep., 6, 20529 (Feb. 5, 2016).
Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)
Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.