Abstract: Multiphoton microscopy can visualize the cellular and molecular architecture of skin, using intrinsic sources of molecular contrast based on two-photon excited fluorescence from melanin, keratin, NAD(P)H/FAD and elastin. Collagen is visualized based on the detection of second harmonic generation signal from collagen fibers. MPM generates images of human skin as optical sections acquired enface from the stratum corneum to depths that typically reach the papillary and reticular dermis (150-200 m). Over the past several years, our group and others have demonstrated the strong potential of the MPM for a broad range of applications from advancing the understanding of skin biology to non-invasive diagnosis of skin diseases and monitoring therapy effects. However, a routine implementation of this technology in clinical research and practice requires advancing the instrumentation to allow for easier access by clinicians and for more efficient imaging in terms of speed and scanning area. Our group has recently reported on a fast large area multiphoton exoscope (FLAME) for rapidly mapping out macroscopic tissue areas (cm-scale) with microscopic resolution (0.5-1m) and enhanced chemical contrast for selective detection of melanin. This presentation will highlight the latest advances in the development and applications of this imaging platform, highly optimized for non-invasive clinical skin imaging with sub-cellular resolution and label-free specificity.
About the speaker: Dr. Mihaela Balu is an Associate Researcher at UCI Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic. Her laboratory is focused on integrating and advancing modern biophotonics technologies, such as nonlinear optical microscopy to the clinical setting. Dr. Balu’s main research goal is to use this technique as a non-invasive imaging tool for visualizing, quantifying and understanding the microscopic and molecular processes that underlie skin biology with a particular interest in melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer.
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