Adaptive Optics In Medical Research Imaging

Medical research of disease progression often relies upon mouse models, which involves sacrificing animals at different stages of the disease to be able to study effects over time. This requires statistical studies of disease with large numbers of animals and only provides periodic snapshots of the disease. In vivo retinal imaging, by contrast, is a powerful tool that allows one to follow a single animal over time, but aberrations in the mouse eye limit the best possible resolution that can be obtained.

Adaptive optics has been successful in correcting phase aberrations introduced by the atmosphere in astronomical imaging. This technique recently has been extended to ophthalmic imaging in humans. In this talk I will briefly discuss the motivation for in vivo imaging and I will present the current technique our lab uses for imaging the mouse retina. Finally, I will explain difficulties that arise when applying adaptive optics to mouse retinal imaging and how we implement adaptive optics into our imaging system.

David Biss

David Biss received his Ph.D. in optics from the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics in 2005. His thesis, "Focal Field Interactions from Cylindrical Vector Beams," dealt with the interaction of small particles and edges with focused inhomogeneously polarized beams. After graduation David left Rochester, NY and moved to Boston to pursue a position as a post-doctoral researcher at the Schepens Eye Research Institute. He is currently working with the Advanced Microscopy Program at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, to develop an adaptive optics system for in vivo imaging of the mouse retina.

New Tools to Search for Planets Orbiting Stars Other Than the Sun

Since the discovery of the first exoplanet, 51 Peg, in 1995, research on exoplanets has exploded. The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) has taken a leadership position in this field and is involved in a broad range of programs to further our understanding the census, dynamics and evolutionary history of planetary systems. In this talk I will briefly review the technique and methodology of exoplanet observation. I will then give a survey of some the tools the CfA has been developing to expand the horizons in this field. Finally, I will discuss and compare three CfA echelle spectrographs that illustrate some of the nuances and challenges of searching for the ultimate prize in exoplanet research, the detection of earth sized planets orbiting solar-like stars in the habitable zone.

Andrew Szentgyorgyi

Andrew Szentgyorgyi is an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) specializing in optical instrumentation. Andrew completed his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Wisconsin in 1986 , building an atmospheric Cherenkov telescope on Maui to search for sources of very high energy (1 TeV) gamma rays, After graduate school, he joined the Columbia University faculty, concentrating on X-ray astronomy instrumentation. Dr. Szentgyorgyi moved to Cfa to work on metrology for the Chandra grazing incidence X-ray optics, but in 1993 he joined the optical and infrared instrumentation group, building a number of cameras and spectrographs for CfA gorund based telescopes.

Handling Photons the Hard Way: One at a Time

While the vast majority of optical techniques, measurements, and technology create, use, and detect light in large quantities, there is growing interest in single-photon technology for a wide range of applications. These applications include, among others, high sensitivity chemical analysis, quantum information, and even high-speed communication with Mars. Along with this growth in interest is a fast growing toolbox of single-photon technology being developed, which in turn is bringing with it single-photon metrology needs. We present an overview of single photon technology and metrology efforts by our group and others.

Alan Migdall

 Alan Migdall received his PhD in physics from MIT and BS in mathematics and physics from U. of Maryland. He is a member of the Optical Technology Division at NIST, where he is involved in projects that use two-photon light sources and their entanglement for absolute metrology and quantum information applications. Traditionally these two-photon light sources have relied on parametric downconversion in bulk crystals, but efforts are moving toward using higher order nonlinearities made possible by new types of optical fibers. In the area of metrology, current work is underway to determine the ultimate uncertainty limits of the two-photon measurement method for both photon counting detector efficiency and spectral source radiance measurements. In quantum information, efforts include the development and characterization of improved single photon sources and high photon number entanglement, as well as the encouragement of related single-photon component technology. Previous work included the laser cooling of atoms, which resulted in the first trapping of a neutral atom. As a means of encouraging single photon technology, Migdall has organized a number of workshops, symposiums, and special issues on the topic.