Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Researchers' holographic video technique has commercial competition

I was intrigued to learn about the technique developed by scientists at New York University to record 3D movies of microscopic systems, such as biological molecules, using holographic video. They describe the method, detailed in a recent Optics Express paper, as a label-free approach to flow cytometry—and say it could improve medical diagnostics and drug discovery. Then I learned of a commercial instrument claiming the same capabilities.

I was intrigued to learn about the technique developed by scientists at New York University to record 3D movies of microscopic systems, such as biological molecules, using holographic video. Researchers in Professor David Grier's lab describe the method, which they detailed in a recent Optics Express paper, as a label-free approach to flow cytometry. They say it could improve medical diagnostics and drug discovery.

Then I learned that a commercial instrument claiming the same capabilities has been in existence for more than five years. The Digital Holographic Microscope, manufactured by Lyncee Tec (Lausanne, Switzerland) and distributed in the US by NanoAndMore USA, Inc., comes in reflection mode and transmission mode models. The former has some unique features including a 25MHz stroboscopic mode that allows stop-action in the nanosecond range. It can map movement and show the influence of changing variables in real-time. "There is nothing else commercially available that can do this," NanoAndMore CEO George C. McMurtry told me. In addition, he said, the commercial instrument "does exactly what Professor David Grier’s group had to make from scratch." McMurtry added, "We are trying to get the pharmaceutical companies and university researchers to realize that this instrument exists and can greatly speed up their research efforts."

Monday, July 20, 2009

OCT for cancer detection/diagnosis

During his appearance last month as the fifth annual Hounsfield memorial lecturer at the Imperial College London (England) Imaging Sciences Centre, MIT professor James Fujimoto said that screening and early stage diagnosis of cancers is a growth area for optical coherence tomography (OCT). Within days of Fujimoto's presentation, a number of announcements from commercial OCT developers addresses the use of the technology for cancer detection.

During his appearance as the fifth annual Hounsfield memorial lecturer at the Imperial College London (England) Imaging Sciences Centre, MIT professor James Fujimoto said that screening and early stage diagnosis of cancers is a growth area for optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Within days of Fujimoto's presentation, Within days of Fujimoto's presentation, OCT developer Volcano (San Diego, CA) told Massachusetts business journal Mass High Tech that it hopes to branch into cancer diagnosis--and another announcement reported a novel cancer detection system based on optical demultiplexed (OD) optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Similarly, skin cancer detection is a potential application of Michelson Diagnostics' VivoSight system, just released for clinical use in Europe.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Urodynamix's financial report indicates demand for NIRS technology

This week, Urodynamix Technologies Ltd. reported exciting news: Financial results for its fiscal first quarter (ended March 31) showed a 1,269%increase from revenues in Q1 2008. The spike resulted from the first commercial sales of the company's URO NIRS 2000 in the quarter--and as of March 31, the company had an order backlog of $92,576.


This week, Urodynamix Technologies Ltd. reported exciting news: Financial results for its fiscal first quarter (ended March 31) showed a 1,269% increase from revenues in Q1 2008. The spike resulted from the first commercial sales of the company's URO NIRS 2000 in the quarter--and as of March 31, the company had an order backlog of $92,576.

Urodynamix has been busy working partnerships to get its near infrared spectroscopy products out into the world. For instance a new agreement with pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer has the partners collaborating on promotional programs to increase awareness of UroNIRS Bladder Monitor technology among urologists and medical professionals. And a product development and distribution agreement with Timm Medical Technologies aims to apply NIRS to erectile dysfunction.

Photonics' impact on ophthalmology

Optics and photonics technologies have advanced ophthalmology at least as much as any other medical specialty. Both the excimer laser and optical coherence tomography (OCT) figured prominently at the recent American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting. Since then, a research report urged greater access to laser and photodynamic treatments, saying such availability would reduce the incidence of future blindness.


Optics and photonics technologies have advanced ophthalmology at least as much as any other medical specialty. Both the excimer laser and optical coherence tomography (OCT) figured prominently at the recent American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting. Since then, a research report, urged greater access to laser and photodynamic treatments saying such availability would reduce the incidence of future blindness.

Last week's announcement of the 2009 PhAST/Laser Focus World Innovation Award winner, BioPhotonic Solutions' femtoFIT, has implications for corrective eye surgery, according to the award judges. And a new low-cost camera promises to expand the technologies' impact to eye care for millions of underserved people around the world.

In another inspiring look toward the future, the open publication of a massive data base of hi-res OCT images hopes to facilitate development of macular degeneration-diagnosis software.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Cardiac imaging and OCT's legal mess

"Word is getting out” about imaging tools that enable more precise guidance during heart surgery, said Volcano Corp. VP Joe Burnett, referring to the increased number of imaging-related presentations at the recent American College of Cardiology (ACC) Annual Meeting 2009.) Speaking at the conference, former ACC President Pamela Douglas, M.D. said that imaging is growing faster than all other procedures, services and diagnostic tests.

Many of the talks focused on intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT), either pitting the approaches against each other or demonstrating their complementary use. Volcano has a foot in each camp, bolstered during the past year by acquisitions of IVUS developer Novelis and OCT developer Axsun. The latter launched a legal battle because last summer, Axsun entered into a multi-year exclusive agreement with another supplier of cardiac OCT systems, LightLab Imaging (Westford, MA). Under the agreement, Axsun would supply advanced tunable lasers for LightLab’s swept-source OCT systems.

We’re still waiting for the final answer to the question, “What happens when the company you acquire has supply agreements with your competitors?” but for now, a Superior Court injunction, in response to a complaint by LightLab, is prohibiting Volcano from using Axsun tunable lasers in its OCT products.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Good morning, OFDI

Did you see Dr. Tim Johnson on Good Morning America a couple of months ago explaining optical frequency-domain imaging (OFDI) technology, which is giving researchers their first-ever detailed look at the interior of human coronary arteries?

Did you see Dr. Tim Johnson on Good Morning America a couple of months ago explaining optical frequency-domain imaging (OFDI) technology, which is giving researchers their first-ever detailed look at the interior of human coronary arteries?

Used during heart surgery, the technique enables 3D, microscopic views of significant segments of patients' arteries, letting surgeons see lipid and calcium deposits, and immune cells that could indicate inflammation, in addition to stents. In an illustration of the technique’s practicality, a discussion during BiOS/Photonics West a couple of weeks ago centered on the technique’s usefulness for helping heart surgeons decide where to place stents so as to avoid complications. A video clip of Johnson’s presentation is available on ABC’s site.

Monday, February 16, 2009

The multiple benefits of multifunctional aesthetics

An increasing trend in aesthetic laser systems--for skin rejuvenation, hair removal, skin tightening, tattoo removal, and so on--is multifunctionality. A related trend is promotion of the devices in terms of cost savings and increase of revenue streams for practitioners. Two examples of this are announcements made this month by Candela and Sciton.


An increasing trend in aesthetic laser systems--for skin rejuvenation, hair removal, skin tightening, tattoo removal, and so on--is multifunctionality. A related trend is promotion of the devices in terms of cost savings and increase of revenue streams for practitioners. Two examples of this are announcements made this month by Candela and Sciton.

I suppose this trend is simply evolutionary, but in light of current economic conditions, especially in the aesthetics realm, it seems especially fitting.

Sciton noted that its new Joule product would enable "revenue stimulus for the current economic environment that will easily translate to solid, long-term practice-building and growth." Perhaps the translation will be easy, but I doubt it will be quick. I hope I’m wrong, though.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Biosensors advancing

“Optical biosensors have begun to move from the laboratory to the point of use,” wrote Frances S. Ligler of the Naval Research Laboratory’s Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering, in a paper titled “Perspective on optical biosensors and integreated sensor systems” (published in December 2008 by the American Chemical Society).

“Optical biosensors have begun to move from the laboratory to the point of use,” wrote Frances S. Ligler of the Naval Research Laboratory’s Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering, in a paper titled “Perspective on optical biosensors and integreated sensor systems” (published in December 2008 by the American Chemical Society). Ligler adds that movement from lab to application will be hastened by “new concepts for molecular recognition, integration of microfluidics and optics, simplified fabrication technologies, improved approaches to biosensor system integration, and dramatically increased awareness of the applicability of sensor technology to improve public health and environmental monitoring.”

Here are a couple of interesting stories we’ve reported recently on biosensors. Stay tuned for more:
Spanish researchers propose low-cost method of developing label-free optical biosensor chip

Euro researchers' wearable fiber-optic biosensors monitor patients during MRI scans

Monday, January 26, 2009

Second dispatch from BiOS/PW ’09

This is a long week for those of us “all in” at BiOS and Photonics West, but though it’s not even halfway over, I can already tell it won’t be long enough for me to see all that I want to.

This is a long week for those of us “all in” at BiOS and Photonics West, but though it’s not even halfway over, I can already tell it won’t be long enough for me to see all that I want to.

I spent much of today in the Lasers and Photonics Marketplace seminar, wherein leaders of the greater optics and photonics industry reported and forecasted market outcomes, and discussed important developments. Laser Focus World chief editor Steve Anderson predicted that when all the 2008 numbers are in, the biomedical therapy market will reveal a decline of ~5% from 2007 levels, and 2009 figures will decline a bit further to $477 million in sales.

I also got to talk a bit with Claude Boccara of LLTech (Paris, France) following his presentation on an imaging approach his company calls “full field OCT.” It is unusual in that instead of imaging vertical “slices” of tissue (perpendicular to the probe) as do other optical coherence tomography scanners, LLTech’s “en face” approach images horizontally (parallel to the probe). While this inherently involves a limited depth of field, the approach is able to image a larger area and promises better penetration. The system combines the layers to produce the same kind of image cube that traditional OCT systems do—and lets you step through the cube by peeling away vertical slices. LLTech plans to launch its system commercially in 2010.

Oh, and I reported only one of the presentations at Saturday night’s Hot Topics session—so let me fill you in on another: Kishan Dholakia of the University of St. Andrews (U.K.) discussed photoporation (also called optical injection or transfection) of exogenous DNA into a cell, saying it is “set to become a mainstay in microscopy,” thanks especially to “novel light beams and optical technology and control.” Thanks, that is, to beam shaping.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

First dispatch from BiOS/PW '09

Introducing the “hot topics” session tonight at SPIE’s BiOS event, Dr. Rox Anderson noted that the BiOS conference is now nearing half the size of Photonics West!

Introducing the “hot topics” session tonight at SPIE’s BiOS event, Dr. Rox Anderson noted that the BiOS conference is now nearing half the size of Photonics West!

The session itself began with Dr. Stefan Hell demonstrating how his Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) microscope breaks the diffraction barrier to achieve super-resolution imaging (28X greater than confocal, down to 8 nm) within living neurons, for instance—and record at 28 frames per second. Wow.



In the exhibit hall I found a couple of vendors claiming unique capabilities. For instance, Innolume says its quantum dot technology exploits wavelengths that nobody else touches--in the 1120 - 1210 nm range (actually Innolume covers a wider spread--1064 - 1320 nm--but other companies have offerings at either end of that range). Another, Translume, is using lasers to produce glass waveguides and other microstructures such as microfluidic channels.

Michelson Diagnostics demonstrated its handheld OCT probe for imaging skin. The company is targeting non-opthalmic applications, and in fact plans to attend or exhibit at dermatology events in 2009.

Kapteyn Murnane Laboratories (KMLabs for short), which develops low-cost ultrafast amplifier systems to compete with some of the larger developers, said it shortly plans to introduce a new device about half the size of its current systems.

More soon--stay tuned!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

My BiOS/PW jogging route includes…

The SPIE, producer of Photonics West (January 24-29) and BiOS (the largest of its four symposia), says that the 2009 BiOS event, starting on Saturday, will be ~15% larger than it was in 2008. I’ve packed my jogging shoes because the exhibits run only 9 hours and feature 150 companies. (The hall opens Saturday at 1 pm till 5 pm, and Sunday from 10 am till 4 pm). Here are a few stops I’m looking forward to:

The SPIE, producer of Photonics West (January 24-29) and BiOS (the largest of its four symposia), says that the 2009 BiOS event, starting on Saturday, will be ~15% larger than it was in 2008. I’ve packed my jogging shoes because the exhibits run only 9 hours and feature 150 companies. (The hall opens Saturday at 1 pm till 5 pm, and Sunday from 10 am till 4 pm). Here are a few stops I’m looking forward to:

Fianium (booth 8132) will demonstrate its recently announced supercontinuum fiber lasers, the first to use the company's new proprietary high performance photonic crystal fiber (PCF) design, developed in partnership with the University of Bath (Bath, England). The technology promises key advantages over traditional supercontinuum techniques.

Michelson Diagnostics’ (booth 8731) will demo its prototype hand-held OCT probe, based on multi-beam technology. The company plans to launch “more than one variant” of the new probe later in 2009, including a dermal version (with X-Y scanning, to enable 3D mapping of skin lesions) and a version equipped with a rigid endoscope, suitable for oral applications. The company will apply for a CE mark for the product this spring, and then file an FDA 510(k) application.

Of course the larger Photonics West event (exhibits open Tuesday, January 27) will feature plenty of companies targeting bio-optics applications, too. For instance Cal Sensors (booth 6234) will introduce LIRA-5S, a lead selenide thermal imaging array that combines sensitivity in a wider wavelength range with integrated electronics. The device can be programmed for use in a wide variety of high-speed thermal imaging applications.

And Inno-Spec GmbH (booth 1801) will introduce a mid-infrared (MIR) compact line-array spectrometer with sensitivity in the 1-3 micron wavelength region that is less expensive than competing technologies.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

It's bad, but not all bad

Yes, it's bad out there. But it's not all bad.

Laser vision correction doesn't yet show signs of recovery; the eye-surgery market research firm Market Scope predicts the segment will finish 2008 with a 17% drop. And the aesthetics sector is similarly struggling: Candela reported revenues down 24.2% in its first fiscal quarter from $35.5 million in the comparable prior-year period; Cutera’s Q3 2008 results were well below management's guidance and the consensus estimates, and Syneron reported revenues for Q3 2008 of $28.5 million, down from $33.1 million in Q3 2007 (even though the company’s international sales rose 17% year over year).


Yes, it's bad out there. But it's not all bad.

Laser vision correction doesn't yet show signs of recovery; the eye-surgery market research firm Market Scope predicts the segment will finish 2008 with a 17% drop. And the aesthetics sector is similarly struggling: Candela reported revenues down 24.2% in its first fiscal quarter from $35.5 million in the comparable prior-year period; Cutera’s Q3 2008 results were well below management's guidance and the consensus estimates, and Syneron reported revenues for Q3 2008 of $28.5 million, down from $33.1 million in Q3 2007 (even though the company’s international sales rose 17% year over year).

But on the up side, aesthetic laser company Cynosure bucked the trend with 21% growth in Q3 revenues. More good news: Strategic Directions International notes that handheld and portable molecular spectroscopy should see “very strong growth for the foreseeable future." This week, cardiovascular OCT systems developer LightLab discussed a similarly positive outlook, while AngioDynamics, Inc., which this summer acquired Diomed, reported net sales for its fiscal second quarter were up 17% over the $41.5 million reported in Q2 a year ago.

The January issue of Laser Focus World quotes Phil Crowley of MarketTech, a laser distribution, sales, and service company, as saying, “With a vast majority of our laser business in biotech, we haven’t seen a slowdown yet.” He said he is “encouraged that higher power levels, broader wavelength range offerings, smaller packages, and price reductions can result in further penetration of lasers into many biomedical instruments for DNA sequencing and disease analysis, flow cytometry, and microscopy.”