Biophotonics

The Biophotonics effort at the Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics (FIP) is focused on developing a comprehensive, bottom-up approach toward non-invasive, early detection of disease where scientific and technological advances made at one level are incorporated into and drive the work at the next stage.

Optical coherence imaging techniques such as optical coherence tomography and phase-resolved microscopy provide powerful non-invasive modalities for real-time, micrometer-scale cross-sectional tissue imaging and ultrasensitive detection of cellular dynamics in vivo with microscopic scale resolution.

Diffuse optical tomography for measurements of hemodynamics and fluorescence and Raman techniques for spectroscopic diagnosis of disease, are important photonic modalities ready for translational research. We will extend our in vivo studies using fluorescence and Raman from the point-detection modality into a multispectral imaging modality.

An important goal of our clinically motivated research program is to create a multi-modality platform, whereby in vivo optical detection provides a complementary means to improve early detection and guidance for disease treatment. We will also investigate the use of novel molecular probes (nanoparticles, quantum dots, and plasmonics probes) as photonics contrast agents and molecular reporters of cellular events. We will investigate the development of molecular probes with multifunctional detection capabilities (OCT, diffuse scattering, fluorescence, and Raman).

By "multiplexing" these different photonics modalities, we will develop a novel type of hybrid biomedical system capable of detecting both chemical/molecular and morphological properties of tissue in vivo, which is not possible to conceive using only a single type of detection.

With a special focus on translational research, we will establish interdisciplinary collaborations with clinical investigators and draw upon various resources at Duke.