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Fluorescence barcoding based on nanoparticles provides many advantages for multiparameter imaging. However, creating different concentration-independent codes without mixing various nanoparticles and by using single-wavelength excitation and emission for multiplexed cellular imaging is extremely challenging. Herein, we report the development of quantum dots (QDs) with two different SiO shell thicknesses (6 and 12 nm) that are coated with two different lanthanide complexes (Tb and Eu). FRET from the Tb or Eu donors to the QD acceptors resulted in four distinct photoluminescence (PL) decays, which were encoded by simple time-gated (TG) PL intensity detection in three individual temporal detection windows. The well-defined single-nanoparticle codes were used for live cell imaging and a one-measurement distinction of four different cells in a single field of view. This single-color barcoding strategy opens new opportunities for multiplexed labeling and tracking of cells.

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Lattice-strained CdTe/CdS:Cu quantum dots (QDs) with a widely tunable near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence emission spectrum (700-910 nm) and long lifetime (up to 1 μs) are synthesized. Based on the multiemission and multi-lifetime of the well-defined QDs, NIR-emitting two-dimensional (2D) codes are achieved by embedding as-prepared QDs into agarose beads. This provides a new strategy for fluorescent 2D codes.

Transmission line corridor (i.e., Right-of-Ways (ROW)) clearance management plays a critically important role in power line risk management and is an important task of the routine power line inspection of the grid company. The clearance anomaly detection measures the distance between the power lines and the surrounding non-power-facility objects in the corridor such as trees, and buildings, to judge whether the clearance is within the safe range. To find the clearance hazards efficiently and flexibly, this study thus proposed an automatic clearance anomaly detection method utilizing LiDAR point clouds collected by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Firstly, the terrain points were filtered out using two-step adaptive terrain filter and the pylons were detected in the non-terrain points following a feature map method. After dividing the ROW point clouds into spans based on the pylon detection results, the power line point clouds were extracted according to their geometric distribution in local span point clouds slices, and were further segmented into clusters by applying conditional Euclidean clustering with linear feature constraints. Secondly, the power line point clouds segments were iteratively fitted with 3D catenary curve model that is represented by a horizontal line and a vertical catenary curve defined by a hyperbolic cosine function, resulting in a continuous mathematical model of the discretely sampled points of the power line. Finally, a piecewise clearance calculation method which converts the point-to-catenary curve distance measurements to minimal distance calculation based on differential geometry was used to calculate the distance between the power line and the non-power-facility objects in the ROW. The clearance measurements were compared with the standard safe threshold to find the clearance anomalies in the ROWs. Multiple LiDAR point clouds datasets collected by a large-scale UAV power line inspection system were used to validate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method. The detected results were validated through qualitatively visual inspection, quantitatively manual measurements in raw point clouds and on-site field survey. The experiments show that the automatic clearance anomaly detection method proposed in this paper effectively detects the clearance hazards such as tree encroachment, and the clearance measurement accuracy is decimeter level for the LiDAR point clouds collected by our UAV inspection system.

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are the most versatile fluorophores for Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) because they can function as both donors and acceptors for a multitude of fluorophores. However, a complete understanding of multidonor–multiacceptor FRET networks on QDs and their full employment into advanced fluorescence sensing and imaging have not been accomplished. Here, we provide a holistic photophysical analysis of such multidonor-QD-multiacceptor FRET systems using time-resolved and steady-state photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and Monte Carlo simulations. Multiple terbium complex (Tb) donors (1–191 units) and Cy5.5 dye acceptors (1–60 units) were attached to a central QD, and the entire range of combinations of FRET pathways was investigated by Tb, QD, and Cy5.5 PL. Experimental and simulation results were in excellent agreement and could disentangle the distinct contributions of hetero-FRET, homo-FRET, and dye dimerization. The FRET efficiency was independent of the number of Tb donors and dependent on the number of Cy5.5 acceptors, which could be used to independently adapt the PL intensity by the number of Tb donors and the PL lifetime by the number of Cy5.5 acceptors. We used this unique tuning capability to prepare Tb-QD-Cy5.5 conjugates with distinct QD PL lifetimes but similar QD PL intensities. These brightness-equalized multihybrid FRET nanoparticles were applied to optical barcoding via three time-gated PL intensity detection windows, which resulted in simple RGB ratios. Direct applicability was demonstrated by an efficient RGB distinction of different nanoparticle-encoded microbeads within the same field of view with both single-wavelength excitation and detection on a standard fluorescence microscope.

A simple, rapid, cost-efficient and convenient method has been developed for synthesis of water-soluble CdTe quantum dots (QDs) under ambient atmospheric conditions. Using this method, the preparation of Te precursor and growth of CdTe QDs were achieved with one-step synthetic route. Under the optimal conditions, the as-prepared CdTe QDs possessed a high photoluminescence quantum yield (84%), a narrow size distribution (full width at half maximum = 30 nm), small particle size (2.6 nm) and low cytotoxicity. The photoluminescence and electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) behaviors of as-prepared CdTe QDs show their potential application in cell imaging and ECL biosensing with high sensitivity.