A team of researchers from Wrocław University of Science and Technology?s Faculty of Electronics has devised an advanced type of ultracompact laser designed, among other purposes, to facilitate more precise retinal imaging, allowing the development of tools for advanced and early diagnostics of eye diseases. One of the authors of the laser?s prototype is Dr. Grzegorz Soboń, a laureate of Foundation for Polish Science?s FIRST TEAM and START programmes.
Dr. Soboń has worked on new types of lasers (so-called frequency combs) together with the team from Wrocław University of Science and Technology?s Faculty of Electronics since 2018 as part of the project called ?Fibre-based mid-infrared frequency combs for laser spectroscopy and environmental monitoring?, funded by FNP under the ?FIRST TEAM? programme carried out by the Foundation with the use of Smart Growth Operational Programme funds. FNP provided him with nearly PLN 2 million for project implementation and to set up the first research team. Developed by Wrocław University of Science and Technology (WUST) scientists, the laser can be used for biological tissue imaging. Their findings have just been published in the reputable journal ?Biomedical Optics Express?.
The prototype created by Dr. Soboń?s team has unique parameters unattainable by systems currently available on the market, and its design has been simplified to the maximum extent. As a result, it does not require any adjustments and calibration, and can be used by medical personnel, physicians and biologists.
?This is an optical-fibre laser, which means that the light is ?trapped? in optical fibres, leaving them only at the end of the system, before the two-photon microscope,? said Dr. Soboń. ?With its simple design, achieved through our ?know-how? about the amplification of ultrashort laser impulses and non-linear phenomena in optical fibres, this device is also much cheaper to produce compared to the competitive solution ? the titanium-sapphire laser,? he added.
In cooperation with the group of researchers under Professor Maciej Wojtkowski from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw (IPC PAS), a pioneer in the field of eye optical coherence tomography and a laureate of many FNP programmes, including the FNP Prize 2012, International Research Agendas programme (IRAP) and TEAM-TECH programme, Dr. Soboń?s team was able to integrate the laser with the two-photon fluorescence microscope constructed at the IPC. In effect, the device provides excellent-quality images of tissues without the risk of damaging them. Notably, the laser?s radiation parameters comply with human safety requirements.
The principal designer of the laser is Dorota Stachowiak, Dsc. Eng., from WUST?s Department of Field Theory, Electronic Circuits and Optoelectronics, and fluorescence microscopy research was carried out by Jakub Bogusławski, DSc. Eng., who earned his doctoral degree at WUST, and now works at the IPC PAS. The team also comprises Aleksander Głuszek and Zbigniew Łaszczych.
Source: Wrocław University of Science and Technology
More information:
Link to the Biomedical Optics Express publication
In the picture: Dr. Grzegorz Soboń, photo by Magdalena Wiśniewska Krasińska (FNP?s Archive)
*The FIRST TEAM, TEAM-TECH and IRAP programmes are carried out by the Foundation with the use of European Union funds under the Smart Growth Operational Programme.