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St. Petersburg innovators sharpen laser correlation spectroscopy for medical research use

The new method of analysis can be applied in researching the impact of various factors (pharmaceuticals, allergens) on the proteins of blood plasma and choosing optimal treatment

MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/ Scientists from the Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) have developed a new technique for analyzing signals of laser correlation spectroscopy (LCS) used for determining the sizes of nano-and micro-particles in solutions, said the SPbPU’s media center. The innovation can be applied in the analysis of liquid samples in medical research, in ecology monitoring, and in control of technical liquids. So, the scope of the newly introduced method by far exceeds those of existing tools.

"In our method, the precision in measuring of particles with various sizes surpassed the capabilities of current mass-produced devices by 20-60% depending on the number of components in the researched solution," said Elena Velichko, Chief Operating Director of The Higher School of Applied Physics and Space Technologies at SPbPU.

Making use of optical observations, LCS allows for defining diffusion factors of particles in solutions and hence for measuring their size. Before, the possible applications of LCS were limited, as the small particles, analyzed in a solution, had to be of uniform size. With this ground-breaking approach, Russian researchers have succeeded to overcome this obstacle.

In this study, various methods of treating LCS signals were compared. As a result, the algorithm based on the development of Soviet mathematician and physicist Andrey Tikhonov (the Tikhonov regularization) was selected. The usage of this algorithm facilitated the implementation of a faster method for solving a system of nonlinear equations, which in turn led to accelerating the cycle of retrieving particles sizes from experimental data by several times. Additionally, the precision of defining particles sizes in multi-component solutions was substantially increased by introducing an additional computational parameter to test the researched solution for the number of components.

The new method of analysis can be applied for conducting complex medical studies, for instance in researching the impact of various factors (pharmaceuticals, allergens etc) on the proteins of blood plasma and choosing optimal pharmaceutical and medical treatment. Moreover, the development could be useful in the ecological monitoring of water resources and in control of the composition of technical liquids.

The authors of this innovation have already received a registration certificate, which is a special type of a patent, but issued for programs. Now, the researchers are preparing to implement the technology. The results of the study have been presented at several international conferences and symposia with the last one being The Fourth International Symposium Optics and Biophotonics - ‘Saratov Fall Meeting’.