|
A partnership between industry, government and the University of Strathclyde, the Institute of Photonics' remit is to bridge the gap between academic research and industrial application and development in the area of photonics research. Our commercially-oriented research portfolio, which has a strong emphasis on collaborative research partnerships, encompasses strategic research, including UK and EU collaborative programmes, industry contracts and consultancy.
The research environment at the Institute of Photonics mixes the purely academic with the real world requirements of industry. The main technical focus is on the development and application of light sources.
Source research and development encompasses semiconductor materials and devices, from gallium nitride materials growth for blue and green emitters, through to new approaches for infra-red devices for telecoms applications; and all-solid-state lasers, with a specific emphasis on ultra-fast and high power systems, engineered in compact, low maintenance systems suitable for a range of applications.
One theme of our applications work is the potential for the use of novel light sources in the biomedical arena. In particular, in recent research we have been exploring the use of practical ultra-short pulse lasers for medical diagnosis, and their application for biomedical research. Novel techniques, based on multi-photon and confocal imaging, have been developed to image living and intact tissue ranging from individual cells to entire dental samples. Three-dimensional images have been produced, providing depth penetration of up to 500microns into the living tissue. The technique used means that there is minimal damage to the sample, even developing embryos, and hence both diagnosis of disease and the monitoring of live samples is possible.
Close collaboration is required in these areas of research between the biomedical researchers, physicists and clinicians in order to achieve the maximum performance from these new techniques.
The Centre for Biophotonics is a new research facility established at Strathclyde University to support interdisciplinary research at the interface between biomedical science and optical physics. It applies novel optical techniques to the field of biomedical research, the initial thrust being in the area of multiphoton imaging, for investigational studies on live cells and tissues.
The Centre is housed in purpose built laboratories in the Strathclyde Institute for Biomedical Sciences and enables physicists and bio-medical researchers to work together on collaborative optical imaging based projects in the bio-medical sciences. Both inverted and upright, laser-scanning microscopes are available, along with a novel rapid imaging system suitable for calcium transportation studies. All systems have access to tuneable and fixed wavelength femtosecond laser sources. An additional epi-florescence microscope is equipped with a high sensitivity CCD camera.
Imaging microscopes specifically for use during electro-physiology experiments are also available. A computer suite suitable for image analysis is sited within the Centre and has high-speed links to a silicon graphics supercomputer.
It is anticipated that this new facility will develop into a world-leading Centre for collaborative research between optical physicists and biomedical scientists from around the UK and further afield.
For more information on the Centre for Biophotonics please contact:
The Centre for Biophotonics
University of Strathclyde
Strathclyde Institute for Biomedical Sciences
27 Taylor Street
Glasgow G4 ONR
Tel:
Fax:
Email:
Web: biophotonics.ac.uk
|
