Imaging Combo Enhances Disease ID, Treatment

JUSTINE MURPHY, SENIOR EDITOR, justine.murphy@photonics.com

Early detection and diagnosis of cancer and other such ailments, including cardiovascular diseases, can make all the difference in treating them quickly and successfully. In some cases, it could actually mean life or death for a patient. Seeing into the body and visualizing samples can aid disease discovery and make subsequent treatment more effective.

Clinicians have historically had to rely on x-rays, MRIs, CT scans, PET scans, and other similar technologies for disease detection and possible treatment options. But times are changing. Fluorescence imaging and sensing, combined with ever-developing microscopy techniques, are emerging as effective tools for detecting and identifying disease, and showing promise for ultimately better treatment options.

In our cover story, Jasper Bosch, a development engineer at Lambert Instruments, examines the progress being made with fluorescence imaging and sensing techniques. They’re getting a boost from advancing microscopy methods, as well, by combining light sheet fluorescence microscopy with super-slow-motion imaging, for example. Processes such as this make possible the construction of a 3D representation of a sample. Researchers also can now study molecular interactions and physicochemical parameters, including oxygen concentration or pH, with enhanced resolution and reduced time intervals.

Learn more in “Advanced Imaging Techniques Enhance Fluorescence Sensing,” (read article).

Elsewhere in the magazine:

• A team from Boston University delves into Photothermal IR spectroscopy (read article), offering insight into previous limitations in such technology and applications. Learn how new photothermal microscopy technology based in IR spectroscopy is finding broader uses in the biomedical field.

• The progression of laser-based technology has prompted a shift in dentistry, moving from a reactive past into a preventative future. Now, dental practices are equipped with the tools necessary to boost patient-focused care. Read “High-Precision Laser Therapy Transforms Dentistry,” by Ben Fisher and Tim Killeen, of Access Laser (read article).

• In “OCT Promising as Clear Point-of-Care Solution,” Duke University biomedical engineering professor Adam Wax, Ph.D., discusses the emergence of optical coherence tomography as a favorable tool in the diagnosis of medical conditions, and how increased accessibility and affordability can further enhance its application (read article).

• In this month’s Biopinion column, Michael R. Hamblin, Ph.D., a principal investigator at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, offers his insight into the realm of near-infrared technology, and how it could hold the key to more effective treatment of neurological disorders. “NIR promises new brain disorder treatment” (read article).

Enjoy the issue!