Date: Wednesday, May 2
Time: 12pm
Location: CR 314
Speaker: Jeff Squier, Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines
Title of Talk: Imaging and manipulating biological systems with optical sources
Imaging and manipulating biological systems with optical sources is desirable from the perspective of providing selective, noninvasive methods that enable quantitative assessment and the ability to potentially alter the system of interest with minimal perturbation. There are inherent challenges to optical tools that can achieve optimal application given the constraints of the biological system: scattering, tissue differences, time scales of the event relative to the procedure being performed, to name a few. Significantly, the ultrafast optical community has made tremendous strides in advancing the application of femtosecond laser sources to meet these challenges. Here, we will show how large focal volumes which translates to large working distances, convenient for biology, can lead to gains in both imaging and manipulation without sacrificing resolution, and can be made compatible with scattering media. This is achieved through careful simultaneous spatial and temporal control of the focal volume (four-dimensional focusing) and spatial amplitude and/or phase modulation of the excitation source. Significantly, these methods that enable enhanced resolution past classical limits are straightforward to implement. Indeed, pragmatic application of these methods is an important consideration and will be presented.