Invention Is Behind Amazing Images

KAREN A. NEWMAN karen.newman@photonics.com

Over the years, the cover of BioPhotonics magazine has featured some amazing images, and this issue is no exception. Courtesy of York Rudhard, Evotec AG, we can appreciate the visual of primary dorsal root ganglion neurons co-cultured with primary rat astrocytes. Thanks to BioPhotonics editor James Schlett and art director Sue Schmidt, the addition of drawings from inventor Marvin Minsky’s patent application for the transmission confocal scanning microscope he built in 1955, is a wonderful reminder of the invention behind the image adorning the cover.

Another nod to the invention behind the advances we record in every issue of BioPhotonics is the announcement of the finalists for the 2016 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation, presented annually by Photonics Media and SPIE. The winner for Biomedical Instrumentation will be selected from this short list, as will winners in eight additional categories. You can see the complete list of finalists (read article). We think the inventions involved will amaze you. Winners will be announced at a gala event during Photonics West next month in San Francisco.

Of course, Minsky’s confocal microscope has been refined and reimagined through the years, and in our cover story, contributing editor Marie Freebody describes a variety of innovations that are breathing new life into the 60-year-old technology. In “Can Confocal Microscopes Compete with the Emergence of Superresolution?” Freebody enumerates incremental advances that bring improved spectral imaging, faster image acquisition, application-specific working distance and wavelength ranges, as well as combined confocal and superresolution functions (read article).

Also in this issue:

• “Surgical Lasers Make the Cut,” by contributing editor Hank Hogan (read article).

• “Microscopy: Key Considerations for Nonlaser Light Sources,” by Barbara Foster, The Microscopy & Imaging Place Inc. (read article).

• “Top Biophotonics Stories of 2015,” by Editor James Schlett (read article).

• “LEDs in Biology Research: From Microscopy to Optogenetics,” by Robert Hartley, CoolLED Ltd. (read article).

Finally, if you’re looking for an opportunity to speak to our highly informed audience about an invention or innovation of your own, BioPhotonics is inviting contributors to a digital conference on “Photonics for Ophthalmology,” planned for June 9, 2016. Innovation is expected to play a big part in the presentations selected for this second digital conference presented by Photonics Media and hosted by Web Editor James F. Lowe. For submission details, please click here.

Karen A. Newman