51 50 Key research Area BIOPHOTONICS BIOPHOTONICS Key research Area KEY RESEARCH AREA BIOPHOTONICS Understanding the origins of diseases, diagnosing them early, and curing them with targeted therapies – these are the visions of contemporary biomedicine. In ACP’s key research area BIOPHOTONICS, light is utilized as a tool to turn these visions into reality. Light enables the examination of life processes in cells, cellular networks and tissues down to the molecular level and can serve as an ideal tool for in vivo diagnosis and therapy, paving the way towards minimally invasive medicine. Throughout the last decade, BIOPHOTONICS has developed into a coherent scientific discipline of high societal and economic importance. RECOGNIZING DISEASES AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL From a global perspective, BIOPHOTONICS has already provided major innovations for biomedical research and clinical routine. In biomedical research, the recent development of ultrahigh resolution microscopy is providing novel insight into the nanoworld. Now processes in living cells and the development of diseases can be studied in greater detail. Spectroscopic and multimodal imaging methods contribute complementary information on cell function and metabolism. These findings help in developing targeted therapies that treat diseases right at their origin – possibly PhD student Emad Najafidehaghani characterizing optoelectronic properties of nanomaterials at his laser setup. even before manifest symptoms appear. BIOPHOTONICS research at the Abbe Center of Photonics explores methods that provide deeper insights into complex biological samples of different size, starting from organs via tissue sections, cells, viruses, down to DNA and RNA. In clinical routines, photonic technologies enable early and sensitive and accurate recognition of diseases, as well as their gentle treatment. Fluorescent imaging has become an important method in the in vivo detection of cancer and can guide the surgeon with greater precision while operating. Current research aims to refine these techniques and detect tumors as small as one millimeter in diameter. Marker-free imaging methods, like Raman and near-infrared spectroscopy, are also developing towards in-vivo application and will provide even more detailed diagnostic information. The research performed by ACP scientists utilizes and develops these methods according to the needs of pathology, oncology, and sepsis research. In the field of sepsis, the fast and unambiguous identification of pathogens, their resistances and the specific host response is urgently needed to save lives in intensive care units. Thus photonic technologies hold great promise in addressing this challenging task. BIOPHOTONICS NOVEL SPECTROSCOPIC METHODS LINEAR & NONLINEAR RAMAN AND FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY; MARKER SCREENING; LABEL DEVELOPMENT. CHIP-BASED ANALYTICS & DIAGNOSTICS MOLECULAR AND CELL-BASED APPROACHES: MICROMANIPULATION & SPECTROSCOPY; INKJET PRINTING. MULTIMODAL BIOMEDICAL IMAGING & MICROSPECTROSCOPY LINEAR AND NONLINEAR RAMAN MICROSPECTROSCOPY; FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY; FAR-FIELD AND NEAR-FIELD MICROSCOPY WITH HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION; OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY. BIOPHOTONICS is an emerging, highly multidisciplinary research area embracing innovative photonic tools applied to the life sciences and medicine. In nutritional sciences, biochips are developed to identify the genetic footprint of particular bacteria. PROVIDING LIGHT-BASED TOOLS FOR MEDICINE AND THE LIFE SCIENCES The BIOPHOTONICS research at ACP is based on three complementary fields of technology: Novel Spectroscopic Techniques, Multimodal Biomedical Imaging & Microspectroscopy, and Chip-based Analytics & Diagnostics. The platform of Novel Spectroscopic Techniques covers, among others, linear and non-linear Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. By nature, these spectroscopic methods are strongly crosslinked with a second enabling technology field, namely that of Multimodal Biomedical Imaging & Microspectroscopy. Biomedical imaging delivers spatially and temporally resolved information on the distribution of biomolecules in living cells or their environment (molecular imaging). Promising solutions include far-field and widefield techniques of super-resolution microscopy, Raman and fluorescence microscopy as well as optical coherence tomography. Additionally, questions concerning statistical data and image analysis are in the focus. The field of Chipbased Analytics and Diagnostics includes lab-on-a-chip biosensors based on microfluidic and optofluidic technology, miniaturized spectroscopy, and molecular diagnostics. In combination with the Novel Spectroscopic Techniques, such biosensing technologies are utilized for the highly sensitive and selective detection of biomarkers and pathogens from biological samples, like tissue sections or bodily fluids. The target molecules indicate specific biological states, e.g. diseases like cancer or sepsis. An important task is the provision of suitable labels, i.e. of molecules that specifically couple to the target molecule and thus enable their detection. Especially fluorescence spectroscopy requires these labels, as many biomolecules do not show sufficient autofluorescence, but also Raman spectroscopy can benefit from the use of labels, like e.g. in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The applied technologies in BIOPHOTONICS hold great promise to reveal correlations between the metabolic state of cells with the pathophysiological state of tissues.
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