Laureate
Professor Dr. Karsten König, JenLab GmbH, Germany
Subject
"Clinical Multi-Photon Tomography"
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| | One of the most important fields of applications of laser technology is imaging in medicine. Scientists and doctors rely on the additional insights that go beyond what can be seen merely with the eye. A large number of different technologies can be applied depending on the specific disease or research topic. X-ray pictures and sonography rank among the oldest imaging technologies. |
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Today computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are also very popular. They generate fascinating pictures of the inside of a body. But even they cannot resolve every detail, distinguish every tissue or identify all changes in tissue caused by a disease. Optical imaging techniques cannot penetrate as deeply into the body as these radiological methods, but they reveal more details and can even selectively identify specific molecules, proteins or intracellular tissue.
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In the domain of laser-based imaging Professor Karsten König does his research on methods in particular for the diagnosis of changes in the skin. The physicist, cell biologist and professor at the University of Saarland in Saarbrücken, Germany, started research on the use of fluorescence microscopy in cancer diagnostics while writing his doctoral dissertation. | |
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| False color image of cells in the skin based on the data collected with the multiphoton tomography. |
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His habilitation in the field of cell biology followed, as did development work on laser based diagnosis of skin diseases. Of particular importance is melanoma, a less common type of skin cancer, which is nonetheless responsible for most of the deaths related to skin cancer. In 1999 he founded a university spin-off, JenLab GmbH, to develop and commercialize a turnkey device for clinical diagnostics. Today the firm sells certified tomographs to hospitals and companies worldwide. The unique combination of multiple optical methods in one device for in-vivo diagnostics, coupled with very high spatial resolution, allows a broad application range and enhances diagnostic reliability.
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| The multiphoton tomograph in clinical use. |
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| | The methods used are based on the excitation of natural fluorescence in key molecules and the generation of characteristic light frequencies thanks to nonlinear optical effects. Excitation is by way of a femtosecond laser; the laser beam scans the tissue to be examined. Photomultipliers measure the induced light signals with sensitivity down to single photon counting. |
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Software processes the collected data and generates false color pictures or diagrams that tell specialists about characteristic structures of skin cells. Changes in structure caused by disease, environmental effects or medications can be detected and examined.
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