Abstract:

A new paradigm in mid-infrared (MIR) biophotonics is opening up. The idea is for portable, real-time, MIR spectroscopic sensing and imaging in healthcare, including for real-time, in vivo cancer diagnosis, based on new MIR fibreoptics. At the heart of the MIR fibreoptic approach are brand new fibre MIR-supercontinuum broadband laser sources. Supercontinuum (SC) generation, first reported by Robert Alfano, is a process whereby narrow-line laser light is converted to light of broad spectral bandwidth with high spatial coherence. Our demonstration of a chalcogenide-glass fibre MIR-SC from 1.4 microns to 13.3 microns spectral range was the first truly to reveal the potential of MIR fibres to emit across the MIR molecular ”fingerprint region” and a key first step towards portable, broadband MIR sources for real-time MIR molecular sensing. Now the photonic technology is in place to develop a new MIR technology platform based on MIR fibreoptics and these novel SC broadband, fibre lasers (>1000x brighter than conventional blackbody sources e.g. Globar©). Today, the ‘Gold Standard’ for identification of disease, including cancer, remains histopathology. A rapid, on-the-spot MIR optical biopsy would allow a single procedure, saving costs, avoid the wait for results and reduce patient stress. The Masterclass will first demonstrate the clinical need, then introduce the necessary MIR glass science and technology for fibreoptics and review progress in tissue imaging using fibre MIR-SC sources, working towards their application in vivo.