New technique: Antiseptic by laser

The world has just got a new technique for antiseptic. It is with a laser. Physicists in the US say that lasers are capable of killing viruses and bacteria, such as HIV, without damaging human cells. This is the result of a research team at Arizona State University.

According to the team, laser pulses are tuned to distinguish human cells from pathogenic microorganisms. Thereby, the laser can kill pathogens without causing damage to the cells.

Experts say the new technique also helps reduce infections caused by methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Femtosecond laser pulse generator.It is used to kill viruses, bacteria without harming human cells.(Photo: American Institute of Physics)

According to the team, current antiseptic techniques, such as ultraviolet rays, do not have the ability to differentiate cells from pathogens from human cells. Therefore, these techniques are not only antiseptic but also can cause skin aging, DNA damage, and the most dangerous, can cause skin cancer. On the other hand, these methods also do not bring high results in treatment.

In this new technique, experts have used femtosecond lasers (femtosecond lasers), through a process called ' pulsed stimulated Raman scattering ' (ISRS), to create vibrations in the class. protein shells of microorganisms, and thereby destroy them . The effect of these vibrations is similar in the case of broken glass causing high-pitched noises.

Experimental results show that the combined vibration produced by infrared lasers with carefully selected wavelengths and pulse widths will not damage human cells. That's because there are differences in the composition of the protein shell of human cells and the protein or virus envelope of the virus.

In the short term, femtosecond pulse technology can be applied in hospitals to disinfect blood or biological materials, as well as to treat blood-borne diseases such as AIDS or hepatitis.

This research has just been published on November 1 in Physics magazine of the American Institute of Physics.

Vinh Tho