Optical spectroscopy has been a powerful tool for quantitative molecular analysis by measuring quantized electronic and vibrational transitions in molecules. In the past, such measurements were restricted to molecules that are extracted from cells and tissues, or biopsies extracted from a human body. Such point spectroscopy measurements are unable to trace molecules in an intact, live tissue environment. Spectroscopic imaging by measuring the molecular fingerprint spectrum at each pixel, thus providing both molecular information and spatial resolution, would offer a new window for seeing a hidden biological world. Five to ten years ago, spectroscopic imaging of living systems from a single cell to the human body was considered to be impossible. In this talk, I will present our latest advances that allowed real time imaging of living systems, extraction of significant information from the crowded fingerprint bands of a biological system, and derivation of spectroscopic information from a deep tissue by acoustic detection of harmonic molecular vibration. I will present our latest study of lipid metabolism in cancer by coherent Raman microscopy and super-resolution imaging of nanomaterials by transient absorption microscopy. Potentially transformative impacts of these projects will be illustrated.

Spectroscopic imaging of living systems: A new window into the unseen world

246th National Meeting (2013)

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