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  • Volume 7, Issue 3

    • Volume 7, Issue 3

    Scans of a single drill core produced by (left to right) RGB-VNIR, false-color SWIR, enhanced SWIR, and spectral facies SWIR (rock expression in a multispectral image is referred to as multispectral image facies). At far right is a spectral facies percentage log. A color legend (see the complete version here: https://goo.gl/tZzoEQ) indicates, for example, that red represents garnet, orange expresses sulphide, and yellow equates to quartz.
    Spectroscopy

    Hyperspectral scans analyze a century's worth of earth samples

    Barbara Gefvert
    May 22, 2014
    Prehistory is written in rock, and hydrogeologist Cynthia Gefvert, P.G., studies slices of cores drilled from the earth to understand its impact on life today.
    (Images courtesy of the Campagnola lab, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
    These second-harmonic-generation (SHG) images depict single optical sections of ex vivo human ovarian tissue. The malignant tumors are high-grade serous tumors as classified as pathology (left column). The field size in each case is 170 × 170 μm. The images were acquired at 40X 0.8 NA at zoom 2 using 890 nm excitation in the forward detection, isolated with a bandpass filter, and detected by a single-photon-counting photomultiplier.
    Fluorescence

    NONLINEAR MICROSCOPY/LABEL-FREE DEEP-TISSUE IMAGING: Long-wavelength lasers push SHG toward preclinical and clinical apps

    Marco Arrigoni
    May 19, 2014
    A new generation of 1055 nm ultrafast fiber lasers maximizes the productivity of nonlinear microscopy systems. The lasers promise to enable the translation of such label-free ...
    (Photos courtesy of Bern Optics)
    Submillimeter optics can be so small (inset) as to be mistaken for a spec of dirt on your finger.
    Biophotonics Tools

    BIOMEDICAL OPTICS: Micro-optics shrinks systems, powers performance

    Mike May
    May 19, 2014
    Sometimes, small size means big power. Micro-optics, for instance, can enable manipulation at resolution similar to cell size, and the creation of go-anywhere optical microsystems...
    Photo courtesy of Chitose Suzuki for Boston University Photography
    Irving Bigio, professor at BU Biomedical Engineering and Electrical & Computer Engineering, with the fiber-optic probe used for early colorectal cancer detection.
    Biomedicine

    POINT-OF-CARE/CANCER DETECTION: NIH network advances optical point-of-care technologies

    Susan Reiss
    May 19, 2014
    Optics and photonics are minimally invasive and enable the rapid acquisition of quantitative data. For these reasons, they are driving innovations in point-of-care (POC) devices...
    1405bowwepffrontis
    Microscopy

    CELL BIOLOGY/CORRELATIVE MICROSCOPY: A powerful pairing for cell studies: Correlative light and electron microscopy

    May 19, 2014
    A workflow protocol illustrates that successful cell biology experiments can be performed using correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM), which combines data from live...

    More content from Volume 7, Issue 3

    Optical Coherence Tomography

    OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY: OCT developments address skin cancer diagnosis

    May 19, 2014
    Recent developments in optical coherence tomography (OCT) address skin cancer diagnosis.
    1405bownews Fig4
    Microscopy

    BIOPHOTONICS/TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH: Richards-Kortum is 2014 Feld Biophotonics Award winner

    May 19, 2014
    The Optical Society (OSA; Washington, DC) has honored Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Ph.D., with the 2014 Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award, recognizing her work in "advancing the ...
    Biomedicine

    CLINICAL IMAGING/PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY: FDA approvals advance clinical systems

    May 19, 2014
    New approvals of biophotonics-based tools by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration include Pinnacle Biologics' premarket supplemental approval for its Optiguide DCYL700 Fiber ...
    Prof. Dr. med. Claus Eckardt used a surgical microscope with integrated heads-up 3D display to perform ophthalmic surgery, which was broadcast live to an audience of 1200 surgeons at Germany's 2014 Frankfurt Retina Meeting. The visualization platform consisted of a Leica Microsystems M822 ophthalmic microscope with integrated TrueVision 3D display technology.
    Microscopy

    OPHTHALMOLOGY/IMAGE-GUIDED SURGERY: 'Heads-up' 3D-enabled retinal surgery broadcast live

    Barbara Gefvert
    May 19, 2014
    A surgical microscope with integrated heads-up 3D display was used for the first time to facilitate ophthalmic surgery at the Klinikum Frankfurt Höchst; performed by Prof. Dr....
    Neuroscience

    OPTICAL POINT-OF-CARE DIAGNOSTICS: Noninvasive approach to Alzheimer's assessment promises early diagnosis

    May 19, 2014
    "Our vision is to change the course of Alzheimer's disease by enabling early diagnosis at the point of care," Paul Hartung, president and CEO of Cognoptix (Acton, MA) told analysts...
    1405bownews Fig2
    Fluorescence

    NEAR-INFRARED FLUORESCENCE: Partnership addresses unmet needs in medical imaging

    May 19, 2014
    Aerospace, defense, information, and services company Exelis (NYSE:XLS) and private medical imaging company NIRF Imaging have entered into a long-term, exclusive agreement to ...
    Thanks to low quenching, CUBIC is compatible with many fluorescent probes, allowing for longer wavelengths and reducing concern for scattering when imaging the whole brain while inviting multicolor imaging. This image of a marmoset brain was created using the CUBIC method.
    Microscopy

    NEUROIMAGING/HIGH-RESOLUTION MICROSCOPY: 'Transparentizing' method enables quick whole-brain imaging at single-cell resolution

    Barbara Gefvert
    May 19, 2014
    Imaging of whole brains at single-cell resolution normally involves not only preparing a highly transparent sample (to minimize light scattering), but also imaging fluorescence...
    Cell Biology

    PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY/CELL BIOLOGY: Luminescent nanoparticle efficient and effective for PDT, cell imaging

    May 19, 2014
    While doing research for security-related radiation detection, University of Texas at Arlington physics professor Wei Chen discovered unexplained decreases in the luminescence...
    1405bowbreak Fig2
    Neuroscience

    OPTOGENETICS/NEUROSCIENCE: Bioengineered 'off switch' lets light shut down neural activity

    May 19, 2014
    New work in optogenetics "creates a powerful tool that allows neuroscientists to apply a brake in any specific circuit with millisecond precision, beyond the power of any existing...
    1405bowbreakf5
    Biomedicine

    OPHTHALMOLOGY/ADAPTIVE OPTICS: Adaptive optics shows earliest evidence of diabetic retinopathy

    May 19, 2014
    A device able to detect the earliest signs yet of diabetic retinopathy leverages adaptive optics and promises important implications for the millions of Americans dealing with...
    Spectroscopy

    DIFFUSE CORRELATION SPECTROSCOPY/STROKE: Noninvasive optical method promises personalized stroke treatment

    May 19, 2014
    A new optical method for continuous bedside monitoring of cerebral blood flow (CBF) incorporates a noninvasive probe placed on the surface of a patient's head to measure fluctuations...
    1405bowbreak Fig4
    Biomedicine

    CANCER TREATMENT/NANOTECHNOLOGY: Light-activated chemotherapy delivery limits side effects

    May 19, 2014
    With standard drug-delivery methods, toxic chemotherapy cocktails affect healthy tissue in addition to cancer.
    Functional connectivity maps in a mouse brain acquired noninvasively by fcPAT depict correlation of the eight main functional regions (a), the four subregions of the somatosensory cortex (b), and the three subregions of the visual cortex (c). The white circles indicate seed regions: S1HL, primary somatosensory cortex – hindlimb region; S1FL, primary somatosensory – forelimb region; S1H, primary somatosensory – head region; S1BF, primary somatosensory – barrel field; V1, primary visual cortex; V2M, secondary visual cortex – medial region; and V2L, secondary visual cortex – lateral region.
    Neuroscience

    NEUROIMAGING/PHOTOACOUSTICS: Photoacoustics enables high-res functional connectivity imaging of the mouse brain

    Barbara Gefvert
    May 19, 2014
    Using optical excitation and acoustic detection, Washington University researchers have developed a functional connectivity photoacoustic tomography (fcPAT) system, which, for...
    1405bowbreak Fig3
    Neuroscience

    MOTOR NEURON DISEASE/NEUROSCIENCE: Light-activated neurons control paralyzed muscles

    May 19, 2014
    A new method that uses light to control muscles holds potential to restore function to muscle tissue paralyzed by conditions such as spinal cord injury and motor neuron diseases...
    Barbaragoode2
    Bioimaging

    Truly useful—and unique

    Barbara Gefvert
    May 19, 2014
    To offer system and device developers important inspiration and guidance that will help bring to market biophotonics-based tools able to substantially improve the future of healthcare...