G. Gutiérrez-Juárez

Measurements of thermal effusivity of liquids using a conventional photoacoustic cell

In this article, we present a new photoacoustic technique, based on the conventional photoacoustic configuration, to characterize the thermal effusivity of liquid samples. This new technique is applicable for all kind of liquid samples, including the nontransparent ones. In order to show the usefulness of this new technique, we measured the thermal effusivity of a variety of liquid samples including: distilled water, ethanol, methanol, chloroform, glycerol, and car oil. The comparison with literature values shows a remarkable agreement. Also, we show measurements of the thermal effusivity of acetone in distilled water mixtures, showing the graphical dependence of this thermal property with the concentration of one of the components.

Photoacoustic monitoring of inhomogeneous curing processes in polystyrene emulsions

The time evolution of the inhomogeneous curing process of polystyrene emulsions is studied using a variant of the conventional photoacoustic (PA) technique. The thermal effusivity, as a function of time, is determined in order to monitor the sintering process of a styrene emulsion in different steps of the manufacturing procedure. PA measurements of thermal effusivity show a sigmoidal growth as a function of time during the curing process. The parameterization of these curves permits the determination of the characteristic curing time and velocity of the process. A decreasing of the curing time and an increasing curing velocity for the final steps of the manufacturing process are observed. The feasibility of our approach and its potentiality for the characterization of other curing process are discussed.

Detection of melanoma cells in vitro using an optical detector of photoacoustic waves.

Circulating tumor cells have been shown to correlate positively with metastatic disease state in patients with advanced cancer. We have demonstrated the ability to detect melanoma cells in a flow system by generating and detecting photoacoustic waves in melanoma cells. This method is similar to flow cytometry, although using photoacoustics rather than fluorescence. Previously, we used piezoelectric films as our acoustic sensors. However, such films have indicated false‐positive signals due to unwanted direct interactions between photons from the high laser fluence in the flow system and the film itself. We have adapted an optical detection scheme that obviates the need for piezoelectric films.

Gastric activity studies using a magnetic tracer

A magnetic pulse generator has been set up in order to study gastric activity. Two coils 1.05 m in diameter, arranged in a Helmholtz configuration, were used. The system generated magnetic field pulses higher than 15 mT, of duration 17.3+/-1.2 ms. Measurements were performed in 11 male volunteers, with average age 29.3+/-6.4 years and body mass index 26.0+/-4.8 kg m(-2). Magnetite (Fe3O4) particles with diameters from 75 to 125 microm were used as magnetic tracers, which were mixed in 250 ml of yogurt in concentrations from 2 to 5 g. Signals were registered by using a high speed 3 axis fluxgate digital magnetometer and processed to determine the relaxation of the magnetic tracers by fitting a first-order exponential function to the data, a mean relaxation constant K = 116+/-40 s(-1) was obtained. Also, an average gastric peristaltic frequency was measured; a value of 3.2+/-0.3 cpm was determined.

An experimental and theoretical approach to the study of the photoacoustic signal produced by cancer cells

The distinctive spectral absorption characteristics of cancer cells make photoacoustic techniques useful for detection in vitro and in vivo. Here we report on our evaluation of the photoacoustic signal produced by a series of monolayers of different cell lines in vitro. Only the melanoma cell line HS936 produced a detectable photoacoustic signal in which amplitude was dependent on the number of cells. This finding appears to be related to the amount of melanin available in these cells. Other cell lines (i.e. HL60, SK-Mel-1, T47D, Hela, HT29 and PC12) exhibited values similar to a precursor of melanin (tyrosinase), but failed to produce sufficient melanin to generate a photoacoustic signal that could be distinguished from background noise. To better understand this phenomenon, we determined a formula for the time-domain photoacoustic wave equation for a monolayer of cells in a non-viscous fluid on the thermoelastic regime. The theoretical results showed that the amplitude and profile of the photoacoustic s...

In vivo measurement of human skin absorption of topically applied substances by a photoacoustic technique

A photoacoustic technique is used for studying topically applied substance absorption in human skin. The proposed method utilizes a double-chamber PA cell. The absorption determination was obtained through the measurement of the thermal effusivity of the binary system substance-skin. The theoretical model assumes that the effective thermal effusivity of the binary system corresponds to that of a two-phase system. Experimental applications of the method employed different substances of topical application in different parts of the body of a volunteer. The method is demonstrated to be an easily used non-invasive technique for dermatology research. The relative concentrations as a function of time of substances such as ketoconazol and sunscreen were determined by fitting a sigmoidal function to the data, while an exponential function corresponds to the best fit for the set of data for nitrofurazona, vaseline and vaporub. The time constants associated with the rates of absorption, were found to vary in the range between 10 and 58 min, depending on the substance and the part of the body.

Photorespiration and temperature dependence of oxygen evolution in tomato plants monitored by open photoacoustic cell technique

The open photoacoustic cell was used to monitor the evolution rate of oxygen from tomato leaves. Estimates of the relative amount of released oxygen in vivo and in situ conditions as influenced by ambient temperature are being presented. Photorespiration phenomenon is shown to dominate above a critical temperature. The evolution of this critical point is analyzed as a function of the environmental temperature.

Differential sensor in front photopyroelectric technique: I. Theory

In this paper the theory of the differential front photopyroelectric technique is developed. The thermal effusivity measurements of a sample through photopyroelectric direct (no-differential) experiments do not have sufficient resolution and accuracy to detect small changes in the thermal effusivity. To assess minor variations in this thermal magnitude, differential methods should be used. These methods compare properties of a reference sample and another unknown sample, which are placed separately in both halves of the differential cell. It is shown that in order to achieve better metrological properties of the differential measurement and electromagnetic interference immunity, the signals of both halves must be subtracted directly at the output of the two parallel connected pyroelectric sensors. The thickness of the samples should have the maximum possible value, at least 10 times higher than the thermal diffusion length for minimum frequency. The results of numerical simulations for the amplitude, phase, real and imaginary parts with water as a reference sample and the other sample with a thermal effusivity very close to that of water (contaminated water) are presented. These results show that measurements should be made in the nearly ideal voltage mode, which ensures a better signal-to-noise ratio than the ideal current mode.

Photoacoustic determination of heat capacity per unit volume at room temperature of thin metallic foils

A photoacoustic method for the determination of the heat capacity per unit volume (ρC p ), at room temperature, for thin metallic foils is presented. The method is based on the use of a variant of a conventional photoacoustic cell.

Chemometric Techniques on the Analysis of Raman Spectra of Serum Blood Samples of Breast Cancer Patients

Raman spectroscopy and Multivariate methods were used to study serum blood samples of control and breast cancer patients. Blood samples were obtained from 11 patients and 12 controls from the central region of Mexico. Our results show that principal component analysis is able to discriminate serum sample of breast cancer patients from those of control group, also the loading vectors of PCA plotted as a function of Raman shift shown which bands permitted to make the maximum discrimination between both groups of samples.