BIO-OPTICS WORLD, May 2009 ARTICLES

Bio-Optics World is a bi-monthly magazine that provides news, analysis and explanation of applications involving lasers, optics and imaging systems in the life sciences. The magazine is dedicated to giving readers a firsthand look at cutting-edge research related to the design, development and utilization of optical technologies in the study, diagnosis and treatment of disease and disease processes.

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Table of Contents

Features

Hyperspectral Imaging

A richer view of bio structures
Hyperspectral microscopy combines disparate methodologies to produce a data-rich view of biological structures useful in research and clinical applications.

Spectroscopic Instrumentation

Combining components for Raman-based optical biopsy
Raman spectroscopy promises to revolutionize cancer diagnosis and detection. An understanding of system components and their key parameters can enhance its for applications such as in vivo screening.

Unprecedented in vivo views at the mesoscopic scale
New optical and optoacoustic methods are solving the bioscientist’s conundrum of imaging deep into living tissues at high resolution.

Columns

Editorial

When light outshines drugs
During the Annual Conference of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS, April 1-5, National Harbor, MD), I learned of two laser-based treatments that have been shown to outperform traditional drug-based approaches.

Inside Instrumentation

Resolving more with light
Electron microscopes provide incredible resolution, but they’re of little use to life scientists because they cannot image living tissue.

Departments

Product Showcase

Components Systems & Products
The portable iTOC-CRD5, with applications for food/beverage and environmental analysis, promises advantages–cost, ease of use, and no compromises–over analyzers based on isotope ratio mass spectrometry.

News & Views

IN THE LOOP: Stimulus funding for science: what happens down the road?
Is there a downside to the infusion of federal dollars for scientific research? In Massachusetts, Robert Coughlin, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council doesn’t think so.

CANCER DETECTION: SORS shows cancer margins
“While the results are only preliminary, we have shown that SORS holds a lot of potential in biomedical applications of Raman that may not have been considered before,” says Vanderbilt University graduate student Matthew Keller.

SPECTROSCOPY: Plenty at Pittcon for life scientists
Options in spectroscopy and analytical methods for life sciences were plentiful at Pittcon 2009 (the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, March 8–13, Chicago).

FEMTOSECOND LASERS: Full speed – and power – ahead
Speed. Power. Precision. These are the key characteristics of ultrafast lasers.

BIOMEDICAL IMAGING: 3-D precision views without special glasses
“For a long time we were in doubt about whether autostereoscopic 3-D display technology can meet the high acceptance criteria for interactive visualization applications in life sciences,” said Dr. Luca Criscuolo, formerly Amira product manager with Visage Imaging. “

UROLOGY: ATR-FTIR gets to the core of kidney-stone development
Learning the cause of initial kidney-stone formation–a poorly understood process–requires the study of small mineral inclusions in tissue biopsies, says Heather J. Gulley-Stahl, a graduate student under the direction of Dr. Andre Sommer at Miami University (Oxford, OH), who presented her work during Pittcon 2009.

BIOPHOTONICS: Bio is key theme at upcoming Laser, World of Photonics
“Both the Laser show and the World of Photonics Congress have specifically extended their biophotonics and life-sciences sections this year,” said Klaus Dittrich, managing director of Germany’s Munich fairgrounds (Messe Mü nchen International).

OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY TECHNOLOGY: Quantum OCT images biological sample
For the first time, quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT)1 has been proved viable for imaging biological samples.

Pioneers

Sunney Xie
Many projects in my group were considered to be impossible only a few years ago,” says Xiaoliang “Sunney” Xie.

End Result

End Result
In a recent special issue focused on energy, Optics Express describes how scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, use microalgae to make biofuel.
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