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Biophotonics is the study of optical processes in biological systems, both those that occur naturally and in bioengineered materials. A particularly important aspect of this field is imaging and sensing cells and tissue. This includes injecting fluorescent markers into a biological system to track cell dynamics and drug delivery.
Random-access wide-field mesoscopy enables the imaging of in vivo biodynamics in mice over an area of 160 mm2 and at a subcellular spatial resolution of about 2 μm.
Single molecule investigations are often performed in fluidic environments, but molecular diffusion and limited photon counts can compromise studies of processes with fast or slow dynamics. The authors introduce a planar optofluidic antenna which enhances the fluorescence signal from molecules, applicable to a diverse range of studies.
A pioneer of DNA nanotechnology, Prof. Laura Na Liu from the University of Stuttgart in Germany, has been working at the interface, where nanophotonics meets biology and chemistry.
Trojan beams, which are optical counterparts of Trojan asteroids that maintain stable orbits alongside planets, have been successfully showcased in experiments, opening up possibilities for transporting light in unconventional settings.
Three-dimensional photoacoustic tomography synchronized with an electrocardiogram provides highly resolved images of a beating heart with optical absorption contrast and enables investigation of cardiovascular diseases in animal models.