Humans can see through the night if nanoparticles are injected into their eyes

The phrase "night vision" often refers to the bulky glasses worn by soldiers to enable them to see in the dark. A number of studies published in the journal Cell have revealed that the scientists above have explained the specialized mechanism of nanoparticles, they can make the human eye achieve the same ability as when they wear glasses to look at night.

Successful experiment on mice

The naked eye of humans and most mammals can only perceive light with wavelengths between 400 nm and 700 nm. Devices that use offline infrared imaging, such as night vision goggles, work by detecting near-infrared radiation. These are radiations with wavelengths from 750 nm to 1.4µ.

The super power to see through the night in sci-fi movies could become a reality.

To do this, researchers focus on analyzing a special type of nanomaterial, called "reversible nanoparticle" (referred to as UCNP particle). They contain the rare Earth elements erbium and ytterbium, which can help convert low-energy photons from near-infrared light into higher-energy blue light, invisible to the naked eye of humans and animals. other mammals are visible.

The team then injected these UNCP particles into the eyes of the lab mice. This is the site where the nanoparticles would bind to the receptor cells in the retina of the mouse. By measuring the electrocardiogram signals at the retina, and capturing the potential signals in the visual cortex of the mice, the researchers found that: Both the retina and the visual cortex of the mice are activated by light. near-infrared light.

In addition, the team also conducted behavioral tests, to confirm whether the mice could see near-infrared light. They placed them in a Y-shaped tank of water, which had a branch in it that helped them get out. Both branches are equipped with lights, the branch for the mouse to exit will be a triangular light and the other branch is a circular light.

After training the mice (with nanoparticles and a control) to point to the arm with triangular lights, the researchers replaced these lights with a near-infrared light source. In this case, but the mice injected with UCNP beads were still able to identify the correct branch to find the exit.

"The mice that were injected with the nanoparticles could easily recognize the triangle and swim there, while the mice that weren't injected could not see or don't," said Gang Han, who led the study. recognize the difference between these two shapes.

The team also emphasized that the UCNP particles would persist in the eyes of mice for at least 10 weeks without causing any noticeable side effects. However, they still want to do more experiments before injecting these nanoparticles into human eyes.

There will be superpowered dogs and a breakthrough to infrared astronomy

When discussing his future plans, Mr. Han said the technology could be applied to service dogs.

He said: "If there is a dog with the superpower to see near-infrared beams, we can shine a beam of light at criminals from a distance, and that dog will be able to catch the target. image without causing trouble to others".

In addition to creating superpowered dogs with night vision, the team has a bigger goal, to be able to apply these nanoparticles (through organic materials instead of rare elements on Earth). Earth) on humans.

With this goal in mind, Mr. Han commented that: "This technique can be applied beyond the military field, it can even be used in fields like astronomy."

He said: "When we look at the universe, we can only see rays. But when we have near-infrared vision, we will see the universe in a whole new dimension. We have could make it possible to observe infrared astronomy with the naked eye, or obtain night vision without the need for bulky equipment."