Color resolution improvement of the dark-field microscopy imaging of single light scattering plasmonic nanoprobes for microRNA visual detection.
Imaging of light scattering plasmonic nanoparticles (PNPs) with the aid of the dark-field microscopy imaging (iDFM) technique has attracted wide attention owing to its high signal-to-noise ratio, but to improve the color resolution and contrast of dark-field microscopy (DFM) images of single light scattering PNPs in a small spectral variation environment is still a challenge. In this study, a new color analytical method for resolving the resolution and contrast in DFM images has been developed and further applied for colorimetric analysis using the digital image processing technique. The color of single light scattering PNP images is automatically coded at first with the hue values of the HSI color model, and then amplified using the MATLAB program even for marginal spectral changes, leading to significant improvement of the color resolution of DFM images and easy detection with the naked eye. As a proof of concept, this method is then applied to distinguish single PNPs with various sizes and to visually detect hepatocellular carcinoma-associated microRNA. As it greatly improved the color resolution of iDFM and its detection sensitivity, this method shows promise to serve as a better alternative for sensitive visual analysis and spectrometer-based spectral analysis.
Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. liuhui78@swu.edu.cn chengzhi@swu.edu.cn and College of Computer and Information Science, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
Jun
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4353-1621
J
Zhou
Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. liuhui78@swu.edu.cn chengzhi@swu.edu.cn.
Peng Fei
PF
Gao
Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. liuhui78@swu.edu.cn chengzhi@swu.edu.cn.
Hong Zhi
HZ
Zhang
Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. liuhui78@swu.edu.cn chengzhi@swu.edu.cn.
Gang
G
Lei
Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. liuhui78@swu.edu.cn chengzhi@swu.edu.cn.
Lin Ling
LL
Zheng
Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. liuhui78@swu.edu.cn chengzhi@swu.edu.cn.
Hui
H
Liu
Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. liuhui78@swu.edu.cn chengzhi@swu.edu.cn and Chongqing Key Laboratory of Biomedical Analysis (Southwest University), Chongqing Science & Technology Commission, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
Cheng Zhi
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1260-5934
CZ
Huang
D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics; D003116:Color; D006046:Gold; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000032:analysis*; D008853:Microscopy
C531907:MIRN122 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D006046:Gold