Technology.am (Apr. 29, 2009) — This is truly amazing that the thinnest human head hair is about 10,000 times thicker than recently developed nanoneedle. This is a breakthrough device with applications for biophysical research.

Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a nanoneedle with 50 nm diameter. It was created with a rigid, but resilient, boron-nitride nanotube. The nanotube is then attached to one end of a glass pipette for easy handling. It is coated with a thin layer of gold.

The nanoneedle is designed to penetrate the membrane of a living cell as well as it can be used as an electrochemical probe and as an optical biosensor.

According to Min-Feng Yu, a professor of mechanical science and engineering and a researcher at the Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing Systems, nanoneedle-based delivery is a powerful new tool for studying biological processes and biophysical properties at the molecular level inside living cells.

This nanoneedle helps to deliver and detect fluorescent quantum dots in a cell’s cytoplasm and nucleus. These quantum dots can be used to study the molecular mechanics and physical properties of cells.

The nanoneedles can also be used as electrochemical investigations and as optical biosensors to examine cellular environments, stimulate certain types of biological sequences, and examine the effect of nanoparticles on cellular physiology.