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October 29, 2017 - November 4, 2017 (Week 44)
Public Access

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	Sun Oct 29	Mon Oct 30	Tue Oct 31	Wed Nov 1	Thu Nov 2	Fri Nov 3	Sat Nov 4
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16:00		16:00» MST Colloquium
17:00
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21:00

TASKS
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Time:: 16:00
Description:: Speaker: Dr. Giannis Zacharakis

Affiliation: Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Foundation for
Research and Technology-Hellas

Title: Novel biophotonics for imaging through complex biological systems

Location: Computer Science Department, room A115 (ground floor), Voutes

Time: 16:00

Language: English

Abstract
Modern advances of photonic technologies and their application in
biomedical research and clinical practice have raised immense interest
in the scientific community. It is only recently that the Nobel Prize
was awarded for the invention of Nanoscopy and breaking one of the
fundamental laws of optics. We are now able to observe and quantify
biology with resolutions down to the nanometer scale. At the same time
the field of in vivo molecular imaging is being widely recognized as one
of the most influential for translational research, transforming health
care and personalized approaches for diagnosis and therapy. In that
respect, current tools in biophotonics have offered a new avenue for
exploration of biological function, detection and treatment of disease
in living organisms and systems.
Methods that provide three dimensional microscopic images such as
Optical Projection Tomography (OPT) and Light Sheet Fluorescence
Microcopy (LSFM) or Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) have
found their way into biology labs due to their advantages compared to
traditional methods such as confocal microscopy in imaging larger
samples. On the other hand, recent advances in optoacoustic imaging have
allowed to image in so far non-accessible regimes with unprecedented
resolutions, based on the use of light for the illumination and
production of ultrasonic waves. These developments have provided the
means for performing high resolution, quantitative, volumetric and
dynamic studies in live specimens ranging from imaging the development,
to imaging cancer, the function of the cardiovascular system, to
neuroimaging, aging and associated diseases to chemotherapeutic
interventions and drug delivery. Moreover, they offer to users unique
capabilities for basic studies and most importantly for detecting and
treating major diseases in clinical practice alongside or replacing
established methodologies .
However, the use of photonic technologies, even though exhibiting very
important advantages and offering insight in new bio-molecular
functions, still comes with significant disadvantages associated with
the diffusive transport of light in biological tissue. Radically new
technologies though are being developed for the production, manipulation
and delivery of light radiation, based on adaptive wavefront control and
shaping to compensate for light diffusion and overcome the limitations
of conventional microscopy and obtain high resolution images deeper than
a few micrometers.
These very exciting discoveries and advances in biophotonic technologies
have now starting to revolutionize the way biological research is
performed. The ability to perform in vivo imaging in scales ranging from
microscopy to macroscopy at depth from a few micrometers to several
centimeters opens up the possibility to shift biological observation
towards longitudinal noninvasive studies of dynamic phenomena inside
whole animals and help understand better human development, function and
disease.

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M. Rieckher, et al, PLOS One, 10, e0127869 (2015)
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