Da. Benaron et al., IMAGING BRAIN STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION, INFECTION AND GENE-EXPRESSION IN THE BODY USING LIGHT, Philosophical transactions-Royal Society of London. Biological sciences, 352(1354), 1997, pp. 755-761
Light can be used to probe the function and structure of human tissues
. We have been exploring two distinct methods: (i) externally emitting
light into tissue and measuring the transmitted light to characterize
a region through which the light has passed, and (ii) internally gene
rating light within tissue and using the radiated light as a quantitat
ive homing beacon. The emitted-light approach falls within the domain
of spectroscopy and has allowed for imaging of intracranial haemorrhag
e in newborns and of brain function in adults. The generated-light app
roach is conceptually parallel to positron emission tomography (PET) o
r nuclear medicine scanning, and has allowed for real-time, non-invasi
ve monitoring and imaging of infection and gene expression in vivo usi
ng low-light cameras and ordinary lenses. In this paper, we discuss re
cent results and speculate on the applications of such techniques.