The integration of optical technologies to manipulate and monitor biological samples
Kyle Quinn
Another interesting combination of optical techniques was presented by Murat Yildirim in Adela Ben-Yakar’s group. He detailed how multi-photon microscopy can be used to monitor the effects of ultrafast laser microsurgery in the treatment of vocal cord damage. The deposition of collagenous scar tissue on vocal folds affects millions of individuals and results in a stiff, functionally impaired tissue. Their group has recently demonstrated the use of a fiber-based probe for delivering ultrafast laser pulses for microsurgery. The ultrafast laser enables precise ablation that can produce sub-epithelial voids to help to facilitate functional recovery. The probe used for laser microsurgery can also be utilized to collect cell autofluorescence and collagen second harmonic generation images. These endogenous signals enable the characterization of both cell and collagen organization within the vocal folds before and after surgery. Furthermore, these non-destructive microstructural assessments can be used to dynamically monitor and characterize the tissue’s ablation properties. I look forward to learning more about the development of their piezo-scanning microsurgery device in tomorrow’s poster session.
