Optical biopsies on horizon using noninvasive biomedical imaging
June 12, 2003 | Source: KurzweilAI
A new imaging technique that could lead to optical biopsies without removal of tissue is being reported by biophysical scientists at Cornell and Harvard universities.
The advance enables noninvasive microscopy scans through the surface of intact organs or body systems for diagnoses of cancers and neurodegenerative diseases, for instance.
The new imaging technique takes advantage of Cornell-patented fluorescence emission microscopy, which produces high-resolution, three-dimensional pictures of tissues with minimal damage to living cells. It uses a laser that produces a stream of extremely short, intense pulses, increasing the probability that two or three interact with an individual biological molecule at the same time, so their individual energies can combine.