A research team led by Professor Choi Won-shik at Korea University’s Physics Department said on March 15 that they have found a way to distinguish waves from optical targets when they are embedded deep in human tissues. (image: Kobiz Media / Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Korean researchers have developed a new optical microscope that facilitates observation of cell nucleus-level changes in human deep-tissue.
A research team led by Professor Choi Won-shik at Korea University’s Physics Department said on March 15 that they have found a way to distinguish waves from optical targets when they are embedded deep in human tissues, where strong multiple-scattered waves from other objects work as ‘noise information’ hindering the sight of targets.
The team excluded strong noise waves by identifying time differences for waves to be reflected, and co-relating those different values with the spatial information of targets detected by emitting light from various angles.
As a result, the team greatly reduced the loss of resolving power for their optical microscope. The team’s new approach enables optical microscopes to have an imaging depth of 1.15㎜ for targets under the skin, with a resolution of 1.5μm.
The research team expects that their new discovery will help detect cancer more efficiently, since 80 percent of cancer cells are developed right under the top layer of skin and organ integument. The paper was published online in Nature Photonics on March 9, 2015.
By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
