Biotechnology Leadership Trainee Publishes Study on Practical Limits of Novel Optical Technique in Brain Tissue

Effectively detecting and treating disease requires the ability to focus light deep into biological tissues such as the brain. Led by Changhuei Yang, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Bioengineering and Medical Engineering, the Caltech Biophotonics Laboratory has published a new study investigating the practical application of a novel optical technique that moves us closer to solving this fundamental problem in optics. Co-author Josh Brake (a trainee in the Biotechnology Leadership Program) says "The new technique essentially makes normally opaque biological tissue as optically transparent as a jellyfish. The results of this study give us a practical idea of how deeply we can focus light in biological tissues, thus opening the door to a whole new and exciting class of medical devices." The Lab is currently developing methods to use this technique and the results from this study to probe brain function with light - giving neuroscientists a tool to decode how the brain works and how the various parts communicate with each other. [Read the publication]