An apparatus and methods for characterizing the response of a particle to a parameter that characterizes an environment of the particle. A change is induced in the...
An apparatus and methods for characterizing the response of a particle to a parameter that characterizes an environment of the particle. A change is induced in the parameter characterizing the environment of the particle, where the change is rapid on a timescale characterizing kinetic response of the particle.
The response of the particle is then imaged at a plurality of instants over the course of a period of time shorter than the timescale characterizing the kinetic response of the particle. The response may be detected by measuring a temperature jump or by measuring correlation and anticorrelation between probe parameters across pixels.
More particularly, the particle may be a molecule, such as a biomolecule, and the environment, more particularly, may be a biological cell. The parameter characterizing the environment of the particle may be a temperature, and change may be induced in the temperature by heating a volume that includes the particle, either conductively or radiatively. The volume may be heated by means of a laser, such as an infrared laser, for example, or by microwave heating.
This technology produces highly spatial and temporally resolved microscopic images of induced relaxation dynamics through the combination of microscopy with a temperature jump in materials and biosystems under observation.
Compatible with a variety of microscopy techniques, the technology allows for fast and controlled temperature change. Initiation of dynamics can also be achieved in a variety of systems, including chemical, physical, and biological systems.
This technology can be applied to the observation of real-time temperature dynamics inside living cells. Compared to current options in the market, the technology is cheaper to produce and better for observing the aforesaid conditions.
A near-field microscope using one or more diffractive elements placed in the near-field of an object to be imaged. A diffractive covers the entire object, thus signal may...
A near-field microscope using one or more diffractive elements placed in the near-field of an object to be imaged. A diffractive covers the entire object, thus signal may thereby be gathered from the entire object, and advantageously increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the resulting image, as well as greatly improve the acquisition speed. Near-field microscopy overcomes the limitation of conventional microscopy in that subwavelength and nanometer-scale features can be imaged and measured without contact.
Conventional Near-field Scanning Optical Microscopes (NSOM) and Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM) used for collecting images of sub-wavelength features in nanostructures and biological samples are inherently slow and can damage the object they are imaging. Their resolution is limited by the aperture of the scanning tip; hence a low signal-to-noise ratio is achieved. This Near-field Diffractive Microscope (NDM) addresses these issues by collecting data from the entire scattering surface simultaneously without the need for a small aperture to achieve high resolution images. The Near-field Diffractive Microscope uses a Fresnel plate as a single diffractive element to provide all the spatial frequencies needed to collect exhaustive information from different regions of the sample.
This optical device provides several benefits over the existing instruments, including increased speed of data collection and enhanced resolution. It has the potential to be of use in the imaging of samples from various fields - from life sciences to material science and in microlithography - where the ability to resolve atomic scale features with great speed and accuracy are crucial.
An apparatus and methods for generating a substantially supercontinuum-free widely-tunable multimilliwatt source of radiation characterized by a narrowband line profile....
An apparatus and methods for generating a substantially supercontinuum-free widely-tunable multimilliwatt source of radiation characterized by a narrowband line profile. The apparatus and methods employ nonlinear optical mechanisms in a nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (PCF) by detuning the wavelength of a pump laser to a significant extent relative to the zero-dispersion wavelength (ZDW) of the PCF. Optical phenomena employed for the selective up-conversion in the PCF include, but are not limited to, four-wave mixing and Cherenkov radiation. Tunability is achieved by varying pump wavelength and power and by substituting different types of PCFs characterized by specified dispersion properties.
Optical frequency up-conversion of infrared (850-1100nm) femtosecond laser pulses into visible pulses (470-690nm) by Cherenkov radiation and inter-modal four-wave mixing in photonic crystal fibers (PCF) enables generation of:
multi-milliwatt
tunable
supercontinuum-free
optical pulses in a wavelength region otherwise inaccessible from the source. Current commercial devices for optical frequency up-conversion are optical parametric amplifiers based on Four-wave mixing (FWM). These devices are input laser wavelength specific, expensive and usually have a large footprint.
Whereas other similar devices require dedicated fabrication facilities or special components, frequency up-conversion based on Cherenkov radiation does not call for exotic dispersion engineering of the photonic crystal fiber. The resulting compact device can be used with source lasers with various wavelengths. Intense, clean visible pulses have potential application in ultrafast spectroscopy, coherent nonlinear spectroscopy and multi-photon microscopy.
A method using standard, inexpensive components and software to generate ultra-short laser pulses of a quality currently available only from complex, costly...
A method using standard, inexpensive components and software to generate ultra-short laser pulses of a quality currently available only from complex, costly systems, such as the Ti:Sapphire laser. Ultra-short laser pulses, shorter than 10 - 15 femtoseconds, are used in many applications including: multiphoton microscopy, coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy, and femtochemistry. At this time, such precision ultra-short pulse lasers are largely cost prohibitive in many applications, relatively difficult and expensive to maintain, and tend to be unreliable. This laser system was designed to provide a cost effective alternative to current femtosecond lasers.
Medical: skin imaging and pathology using multiphoton imaging
Benefits:
Ultra-short pulses: this technology allows tunable pulse compression capable of producing pulses ranging from 220 to 8.7 femtoseconds. Due to the simplicity of this system, once configured, the pulses are fully reproducible, need little maintenance and have excellent reliability.
Size and portability: while Ti:Sapphire lasers require a significant amount of space, this system requires much less (it is roughly the size of a bread box) thereby allowing dramatically improved portability for easier translation to clinical applications, or inter-laboratory sharing and collaboration.
Cost: at a fraction of the cost of a Ti:Sapphire laser, this invention provides a cost-effective alternative to all other commercially available femtosecond lasers.
Reliability: the simple elegance of this laser system grants it excellent pulse reproducibility and reliability in contrast to currently available femtosecond lasers which, due to complexity and other factors, suffer from high maintenance costs and unreliability. Additionally, maintenance of this system is comparatively inexpensive because of its off-the-shelf standard components.
Nonlinear Interferometric Vibrational Imaging (NIVI) NIVI offers unmatched capabilities in biomedical imaging by performing non-invasive three-dimensional molecular imaging of living specimens and tissue. This imaging platform interferometrically detects nonlinear optical signals based on the vibrational states of atomic bonds within target molecules and may be used for diagnostics and for delivery of focused ablative treatment.
Developed as part of a portfolio of optical contrast agents and molecular detection technologies that enhance the ability of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to non-invasively map molecules in living specimens and diagnose disease where it starts. OCT utilizes low-coherence interferometry to measure the intensity of reflected or backscattered light to form images with micrometer resolution, is readily integrated with existing optical instrumentation and has application across a wide range of biological, medical, surgical, and non-biological specialties.
Benefits:
Images a range of molecular species simultaneously with a single instrument
Requires no exogenous labels to detect specific molecules
Permits precise density determination without background signals
Allows 3-D discrimination of molecular density and enhancement
Provides 2D and 3D imaging of biological tissues, showing both molecular information and structural information. These measurements could provide clinical diagnostic value without requiring a biopsy. These innovations offer better sensitivity, better false signal rejection, and more flexibility than CARS microscopes, and can potentially be much cheaper and easier to operate.
A set of CARS (Coherent Anti-stokes Raman Spectroscopy) related inventions that efficiently enable in vivo three-dimensional imaging of biological tissues without added stains or markers. The features examined are actually the density of molecules in tissue with particular molecular ro-vibrational features. This is a major improvement over NIVI (Non-linear Interferometric Vibrational Imaging).
Determination of both structural and chemical attributes of biological tissues either as biopsy or in vivo.
Laboratory set-ups exist, many animal and human tissues have been imaged. Ready for product development engineering to: reduce cost, provide customer-centric packaging, documentation, regulatory compliance, etc.
A system and method for microscale measurement and imaging of the group refractive index of a sample. The method utilizes a broadband confocal high-numerical...
A system and method for microscale measurement and imaging of the group refractive index of a sample. The method utilizes a broadband confocal high-numerical aperture microscope embedded into an interferometer and a spectrometric means, whereby spectral interferograms are analyzed to compute optical path delay of the beam traversing the sample as the sample is translated through the focus of an interrogating light beam. A determination of group refractive index may serve to disambiguate phase ambiguity in a measurement of refractive index at a specified wavelength. Spatial resolution of object characterization in three dimensions is achieved by imaging the object from multiple viewpoints.
Applicable to a variety of industries, this novel method measures Group Refractive Indices of biological tissues at the micron scale and can be applied to several optical imaging techniques, such as Optical Coherence Tomography and Confocal Microscopy.
Although the method can be used for non-medical applications, its most beneficial application is in the diagnosis of cancerous cells. It allows for quickly measuring cells' organelles to indentify cancerous properties.
Since this method does not require refraction, a larger variety of biological samples can be examined. Hardware is readily available for the application of this method, and the method can be applied to any optical imaging technique due to its universal math.
