Spectral imaging is the collection and display of the spectral components of a fluorescence image. LOCI is currently developing a combined spectral/lifetime detector that is optimized for low-light level multiphoton imaging. The detector works in photon counting mode and essentially sorts detected photons into spectral and temporal bins. This detector is being developed primarily for the Optical Workstation but will also be used with the high-speed multiphoton imaging system currently under development.

In 1994, we commissioned a multiphoton imaging system that featured an all solid-state excitation source, a 1047nm Nd:YLF laser.  The laser was developed to our specifications by Prof. Allister Ferguson's group at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, and by Microlase Ltd., a company founded by Prof. Ferguson. This was the first all-solid-state multiphoton system to be developed (Wokosin et al., 1996. Proc.SPIE 2678, 38).

While diagnosis of human breast cancers is advancing, current biomarkers cannot predict outcome for all patients.  Endogenous optical properties of cells and tissues could potentially be used as biomarkers in the clinic.  Collagen can be detected, without staining or labeling of tissue, using second harmonic generation (SHG) imaging, a multiphoton technique.  Collagen signatures, see in mouse models, could be used in breast cancer patients to predict outcomes. 

Collagen organization and density can have a profound effect on the behavior of breast cancer cells.  Using second harmonic generation (SHG), the structure of collagen in intact mammary mouse mammary glands can be visualized.  In collaboration with the Keely Lab, a metatstatic collagen signature (TACS3) has been identified leading to useful characterization of breast tissue and tumors.