Society of Physics Students &
Department of Physics Seminar
Lasers and Brains: From in vivo
Neuroscience to Invisible Organs
Prof. Michael J. Levene
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University
Optical microscopy has been a critical tool for biological
research and disease diagnosis for over a hundred years, yet its
application to thick tissue samples and to imaging in living
animals has been limited by an inability to imaging deeply into
tissue. Multiphoton microscopy, which uses ultrafast lasers for
fluorescence imaging, has made great strides in extending the range
of microscopy, yet even it is limited to imaging a few hundred
microns into tissue.
Prof. Levene will present two approaches his lab has
developed for extending the range of multiphoton microscopy. One
approach uses micro-optics, small lenses and prisms, inserted
directly into the brains of awake mice so that we can literally
watch the brain work. The second approach uses chemical treatment
of fixed tissue, such as those retrieved during medical biopsy, to
render tissue nearly transparent such that the entire sample can be
imaged for improved disease diagnosis.
Come join us! Food and drinks will be served.