Traceless Photopolymerization with red light
Traceless photopolymerization by red light: upon red-light irradiation, polymerization starts and, at the same time, the sensitizer permanently photobleaches, resulting in a colorless (“traceless”) crosslinked hydrogel.
Automated systems
Automated illumination system for high-throughput photopharmacology
Develop a fully customized, high-throughput, and costeffective illumination system equipped with Python-based control software. This system allows precise, reproducible illumination of samples in standard microplate formats—including 12-, 24-, 48-, 96- , 384-well plates—with adjustable illumination diameter and controlled temperature. It also supports selective, well-by-well illumination across the plate, enabling targeted exposure of userdefined wells. Depending on the application, the system is adaptable to essentially any fiber-coupled light source—laser, LED, or diode laser—with selectable wavelength. Power density (irradiance) can be controlled.
Python-based software development
To complement the hardware, a dedicated Python application—AIS Illumination software—was developed to manage all device functions. Built using the PyQt6 framework, the graphical interface Supplementary Information (SI) for Analyst. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2025 enables intuitive operation and is supported by multithreading and multiprocessing to maintain realtime responsiveness during motor control and laser actuation. Communication with the device is established via serial protocol, ensuring robust and low-latency command execution. The AIS Illumination software comprises four main functional panels: 1. Connection Panel: Allows users to select the appropriate COM port and baud rate to establish communication with the device. A red status indicator and “Connected” message confirm a successful connection. 2. Initialization Panel: Used to define the system’s reference coordinates. The Home and A1 well positions can be established either by direct coordinate input or through manual adjustment using directional arrow buttons. Step size is configurable between 0.1 mm and 400 mm. This calibration is performed once during initial setup and stored for future use. 3. Coordination Panel: Facilitates selection of target wells (A1–H12) and the definition of illumination durations ranging from 1 second to several hours per well. This panel also includes controls for a shutter and iris, allowing the beam size to be adjusted or blocked entirely. Errors or operational messages are reported in a dedicated command console. 4. G-Code Panel: Displays the full sequence of G-code commands generated by the system, providing users with detailed insight into the control logic and facilitating reproducibility or manual adjustments if necessary. To promote reproducibility and facilitate future adaptations by the research community, the complete source code for the Ali Illumination control software (AIS) is freely available on GitHub at https://github.com/Eftekhari92/Ali-illumination. Additionally, all custom-designed 3D-printable CAD files used in the hardware modification are provided at https://github.com/Eftekhari92/Cad-files.