Titanium Oxide Challenges Gold Standard Photoporation Method

Researchers in the mechanical engineering department at Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT) have developed a low-cost photoporation method using titanium-oxide nanotubes. Photoporation is a technique that relies on focused light to perforate the cell membrane, creating an opening through which substances may enter the membrane. Because photoporation has in application traditionally used gold nanoparticles, which absorb pulsed light, the technique has often been expensive to practice. The technique developed at TUT, however, uses an alternative, more cost-effective material: titanium-oxide nanotubes (TNTs). Representation of (a) cells cultured on top of titanium-oxide nanotubes and (b) massively parallel photoporation using...