Could luminescence breakthrough improve medical imaging?

Scientists at the University of Vermont (UVM) and Dartmouth College said they’ve identified a new form of light called SOKR, according to a statement—one that may, in time, have implications for medical imaging.

Or, at least, “a new method to create light,” as Matthew Liptak, a study author from UVM, explained. The research was published in the journal Nature Chemistry Sept. 26.

The method is a kind of luminescence—neon green light emitted from a viscous liquid with a consistency similar to maple syrup. In fact, the thicker the liquid, the brighter the light, the researchers found. The light is created when particular molecules, called molecular rotators, spin.

SOKR stands for Suppression of Kasha’s Rule, a law about photon emission. This new kind of light creation appears to break the previously understood norm of Kasha’s Rule. This means the luminescence doesn’t just quickly reflect light after molecules stop vibrating from absorbing light, as Kasha’s Law would expect it to. It starts to emit light before it stops vibrating, especially when its rotating movement is constrained in the thick liquid.

According to the researchers, the new discovery could be used in medical imaging, though such applications are not currently being explored. So far, the existing molecular rotators can’t be used in human medical treatments or tests.

"The compound we found is very bright, and due to its viscosity sensitivity, may have a multitude of applications," said Morgan Cousins, a UVM doctoral student and co-author of the new study. "We see uses for these kinds of molecules from industrial materials to new kinds of LEDs to biomedical imaging."