Optical Techniques in Biological Research


Book Description

Light scattering / Bennie R. Ware -- Raman scattering / Denis L. Rousseau and Mark R. Ondrias -- Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy / James O. Alben and Frank G. Fiamingo -- Nanosecond fluorescence spectroscopy / Juan Yguerabide and Evangelina E. Yguerabide -- Circular dichroism / Marcos F. Maestre -- Electron microscopy / S.W. Hui.




Optical Techniques in Biological Research


Book Description

Optical Techniques in Biological Research discusses the fundamentals and applications of light scattering, Raman scattering, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nanosecond fluorescence spectroscopy, and circular dichroism. Electron microscopy is also included owing to some of its classical similarity to optical microscopy optical structural and resonance techniques for biological research. The chapters are aimed at a level such that only a general understanding of chemistry and biology is required. The objective is to present material in a way that allows the research worker to assess quickly the applicability, utility, and significance of the specific technique to his or her problem or field of interest. Together with Structural and Resonance Techniques in Biological Research, this book marks the introduction of a new series of volumes, Physical Techniques in Biology and Medicine, which is intended to replace a previous treatise, Physical Techniques in Biological Research.




Optical Probes in Biology


Book Description

Optical probes, particularly the fluorescent varieties, enable researchers to observe cellular events in real time and with great spatial resolution. Optical Probes in Biology explores the diverse capabilities of these powerful and versatile tools and presents various approaches used to design, develop, and implement them. The book examines the use




The Optical Clearing Method


Book Description

This book describes the Optical Immersion Clearing method and its application to acquire information with importance for clinical practice and various fields of biomedical engineering. The method has proved to be a reliable means of increasing tissue transparency, allowing the investigator or surgeon to reach deeper tissue layers for improved imaging and laser surgery. This result is obtained by partial replacement of tissue water with an active optical clearing agent (OCA) that has a higher refractive index and is a better match for the refractive index of other tissue components. Natural tissue scattering is thereby reduced. An exponential increase in research using this method has occurred in recent years, and new applications have emerged, both in clinical practice and in some areas of biomedical engineering. Recent research has revealed that treating ex vivo tissues with solutions containing active OCAs in different concentrations produces experimental data to characterize drug delivery or to discriminate between normal and pathological tissues. The obtained drug diffusion properties are of interest for the pharmaceutical and organ preservation industry. Similar data can be estimated with particular interest for food preservation. The free water content evaluation is also of great interest since it facilitates the characterization of tissues to discriminate pathologies. An interesting new application that is presented in the book regards the creation of two optical windows in the ultraviolet spectral range through the application of the immersion method. These induced transparency windows open the possibility to diagnose and treat pathologies with ultraviolet light. This book presents photographs from the tissues we have studied and figures that represent the experimental setups used. Graphs and tables are also included to show the numerical results obtained in the sequential calculations performed.




Optical Interferometry for Biology and Medicine


Book Description

This book presents the fundamental physics of optical interferometry as applied to biophysical, biological and medical research. Interference is at the core of many types of optical detection and is a powerful probe of cellular and tissue structure in interfererence microscopy and in optical coherence tomography. It is also the root cause of speckle and other imaging artefacts that limit range and resolution. For biosensor applications, the inherent sensitivity of interferometry enables ultrasensitive detection of molecules in biological samples for medical diagnostics. In this book, emphasis is placed on the physics of light scattering, beginning with the molecular origins of refraction as light propagates through matter, and then treating the stochastic nature of random fields that ultimately dominate optical imaging in cells and tissue. The physics of partial coherence plays a central role in the text, with a focus on coherence detection techniques that allow information to be selectively detected out of incoherent and heterogeneous backgrounds. Optical Interferometry for Biology and Medicine is divided into four sections. The first covers fundamental principles, and the next three move up successive scales, beginning with molecular interferometry (biosensors), moving to cellular interferometry (microscopy), and ending with tissue interferometry (biomedical). An outstanding feature of the book is the clear presentation of the physics, with easy derivations of the appropriate equations, while emphasizing "rules of thumb" that can be applied by experimental researchers to give semi-quantitative predictions.




Handbook of Optical Biomedical Diagnostics


Book Description

This text begins by describing the basic principles and diagnostic applications of optical techniques based on detecting and processing the scattering, fluorescence, FT IR, and Raman spectroscopic signals from various tissues, with an emphasis on blood, epithelial tissues, and human skin. The second half of the volume discusses specific imaging technologies, such as Doppler, laser speckle, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging.




Harnessing Light


Book Description

Optical science and engineering affect almost every aspect of our lives. Millions of miles of optical fiber carry voice and data signals around the world. Lasers are used in surgery of the retina, kidneys, and heart. New high-efficiency light sources promise dramatic reductions in electricity consumption. Night-vision equipment and satellite surveillance are changing how wars are fought. Industry uses optical methods in everything from the production of computer chips to the construction of tunnels. Harnessing Light surveys this multitude of applications, as well as the status of the optics industry and of research and education in optics, and identifies actions that could enhance the field's contributions to society and facilitate its continued technical development.




Handbook of Tissue Optical Clearing


Book Description

Biomedical photonics is currently one of the fastest growing fields, connecting research in physics, optics, and electrical engineering coupled with medical and biological applications. It allows for the structural and functional analysis of tissues and cells with resolution and contrast unattainable by any other methods. However, the major challenges of many biophotonics techniques are associated with the need to enhance imaging resolution even further to the sub-cellular level as well as translate them for in vivo studies. The tissue optical clearing method uses immersion of tissues into optical clearing agents (OCAs) that reduces the scattering of tissue and makes tissue more transparent and this method has been successfully used ever since. This book is a self-contained introduction to tissue optical clearing, including the basic principles and in vitro biological applications, from in vitro to in vivo tissue optical clearing methods, and combination of tissue optical clearing and various optical imaging for diagnosis. The chapters cover a wide range of issues related to the field of tissue optical clearing: mechanisms of tissue optical clearing in vitro and in vivo; traditional and innovative optical clearing agents; recent achievements in optical clearing of different tissues (including pathological tissues) and blood for optical imaging diagnosis and therapy. This book provides a comprehensive account of the latest research and possibilities of utilising optical clearing as an instrument for improving the diagnostic effectiveness of modern optical diagnostic methods. The book is addressed to biophysicist researchers, graduate students and postdocs of biomedical specialties, as well as biomedical engineers and physicians interested in the development and application of optical methods in medicine. Key features: The first collective reference to collate all known knowledge on this topic Edited by experts in the field with chapter contributions from subject area specialists Brings together the two main approaches in immersion optical clearing into one cohesive book




Biomedical Optical Imaging


Book Description

Biomedical optical imaging is a rapidly emerging research area with widespread fundamental research and clinical applications. This book gives an overview of biomedical optical imaging with contributions from leading international research groups who have pioneered many of these techniques and applications. A unique research field spanning the microscopic to the macroscopic, biomedical optical imaging allows both structural and functional imaging. Techniques such as confocal and multiphoton microscopy provide cellular level resolution imaging in biological systems. The integration of this technology with exogenous chromophores can selectively enhance contrast for molecular targets as well as supply functional information on processes such as nerve transduction. Novel techniques integrate microscopy with state-of-the-art optics technology, and these include spectral imaging, two photon fluorescence correlation, nonlinear nanoscopy; optical coherence tomography techniques allow functional, dynamic, nanoscale, and cross-sectional visualization. Moving to the macroscopic scale, spectroscopic assessment and imaging methods such as fluorescence and light scattering can provide diagnostics of tissue pathology including neoplastic changes. Techniques using light diffusion and photon migration are a means to explore processes which occur deep inside biological tissues and organs. The integration of these techniques with exogenous probes enables molecular specific sensitivity.




Optical Techniques


Book Description