Herein, prussian blue nanoparticles, an ancient dye, were explored as a new generation of near-infrared laser-driven photothermal ablation agents for cancer therapy alternative to traditional agents due to their good photothermal efficiency and high photothermal stability but low cost and particularly clinically approved biosafety.

Recently, RBC membrane coated nanoparticles have attracted much attention because of their excellent immune escape ability; meanwhile, Au nanocages (AuNs) have been extensively used for cancer therapy due to its photothermal effect and drug delivery capability. The combination of RBC membrane coating and Au nanocages may provide an effective approach for targeted cancer therapy. However, few reports have shown the utilization of combining these two technologies. Here, we present the development of Erythrocyte membrane-coated Gold nanocages for targeted cancer photothermal and chemical therapy. First, anti-EpCam antibodies are used to modify RBC membranes to target 4T1 cancer cells. Second, the antitumor drug paclitaxel is encapsulated into AuNs. Then, the AuNs are coated with the modified RBC membranes. This new nanoparticles are termed EpCam-RPAuNs. We characterize the capability of EpCam-RPAuNs for selective tumor targeting via exposure to the near-infrared irradiation. Experimental results demonstrate that EpCam-RPAuNs can effectively generate hyperthermia and precisely deliver the antitumor drug PTX to targeted cells. We also validate the biocompatibility of our EpCam-RPAuNs in vitro. By combining the targeting moleculars modified RBC membrane and AuNs, our approach provides a new way to design biomimetic nanoparticles to enhance the surface functionality of nanoparticles. We believe that EpCam-RPAuNs can be potentially applied for cancer diagnoses and therapies.

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A vibrotactile array is a promising human computer interface which could display graphical information to users in a tactile form. This paper presents the design and testing of an image contour display system with a vibrotactile array. The tactile image display system is attached to the back of the user. It converts visual graphics into 2D tactile images and allows subjects to feel the contours of objects through vibration stimulus. The system consists of a USB camera, 48 (6×8) vibrating motors and an embedded control system. The image is captured by the camera and the 2D contour is extracted and transformed into vibrotactile stimuli using a temporalspatial dynamic coding method. Preliminary experiments were carried out and the optimal parameters of the vibrating time and duration were explored. To evaluate the feasibility and robustness of this vibration mode, letters were also tactilely displayed and the recognition rate about the alphabet letter display was investigated. It was shown that under the condition of no pre-training for the subjects, the recognition rate was 82%. Such a recognition rate is higher than that of the scanning mode (47.5%) and the improved handwriting mode (76.8%). The results indicated that the proposed method was efficient in conveying the contour information to the visually impaired by means of vibrations.

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