Chalcogenide Glasses for Mid-infrared fibre optics.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Faculty of Engineering
Abstract
Chalcogenide glasses are a type of inorganic glass material that are formed from chalcogen elements. These include sulphur (S), selenide (Se) or telluride (Te). These are most commonly combined with arsenic (As) and germanium (Ge). Glass melting is the commonly used technique for manufacturing chalcogenide glasses for optical pieces. Melting is generally achieved within a vacuum sealed vitreous silica ampoule. Before sealing the ampoule, the batch is purified to minimise oxide, hydride and hydroxide impurities. Further purification occurs via distillation into the melt ampoule under a reactive atmosphere. The purpose behind the development of chalcogenide glasses for mid-infrared fibre optics is due to their potential to analyse and image tissue in real time, thus allowing for earlier diagnosis of medical conditions and faster medical decisions and treatment planning.
People |
ORCID iD |
| David Mabwa (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/N50970X/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2021 | |||
| 1944380 | Studentship | EP/N50970X/1 | 01/10/2017 | 23/06/2021 | David Mabwa |
| Description | We produce glass optical fibres for various applications. One such is for applications in endoscopy. One of our fibre compositions, aimed for endoscopic-based applications contains Ge, Sb and Se. As the final aim for this composition is medically based, an assessment on the cytotoxicity of Ge, Se and Sb in GeSbSe optical glass is required. Using the neutral red assay, we found that GeSbSe based optical fibres are non-toxic to 3t3 embryonic fibroblasts. Toxicity only appears when a thick oxide layer is allowed to develop on the fibre surface, a layer that only formes when the glass is exposed to hydrogen peroxide. |
| Exploitation Route | As this work provides proof that the fibres are non-toxic, their use for developing endoscopic probes can continue without modification to their composition. |
| Sectors | Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | Spectroscopy for Endometrial Cancer Diagnosis |
| Organisation | Nottingham City Hospital |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Hospitals |
| PI Contribution | In this project, our research team is required to collect ATR-FTIR spectral data from endometrial cancerous tissue. With multivariate statistical algorithms developed in-house, the data is to be processed using methods, such as PCA, SVM, and k-means clustering. In this project, we provide the instruments and consumables required for collecting spectral data. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Samples: Our partners at Nottingham City Hospital recruit patients who are scheduled for surgery and provide us with the endometrial cancer tissue from these patients. WorkSpace: In order to allow fast processing of these samples, we have been allowed to relocate our equipment from the University of Nottingham and into the hospital. |
| Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary. No outputs have been produced as yet. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Title | Atten. |
| Description | Atten is a piece of software I recently developed to automate the calculation of the optical attenuation that occurs within chalcogenide fibres developed within our research group. The code was developed using the Matlab language. This isn't an open-source software yet. After any bugs are resolved, it will be released. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | Atten was recently completed (02/2020) and so has only been used by myself. It is currently being tested by other members of the research group. |