A new workshop helping to drive faster development and deployment of more accurate, less invasive diagnostic and treatment methods for cancer and other diseases will bring academia, industry, and clinicians to Houston in the USA next month. SPIE Translational Biophotonics will be held 19-20 May on the Rice University campus, and is sponsored by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics along with the BioScience Research Collaborative of Rice University.
At the event, more than 60 oral and poster presentations will be presented, highlighted by special sessions featuring leaders in biophotonics discussing the paths that led to their advancements, clinicians giving their perspectives on application needs, and industry representatives discussing pathways to biophotonics commercialisation.
‘This new event will serve as an interdisciplinary forum for academics, developers, and practicing clinicians working in fields of medicine and biophotonics such as optical diagnostics, image-guided intervention, novel microscopy techniques, and probes − in conjunction with system designers and developers,’ said conference chair and Rice researcher SPIE Member Tomasz Tkaczyk. ‘Bringing everyone with a role in the technology transfer path, from research to commercialisation, is the key to expediting better treatment for patients. Among the applications are cancer diagnostics, cardiovascular imaging, and detection of infectious diseases.’
The workshop continues a translational biophotonics program launched at SPIE BiOS during Photonics West in San Francisco in February, and is the first of a planned series of workshops aiming to further accelerate the development of biophotonics technology into applications.
Topics that will be covered during the event include:
- Diagnostic imaging and detection (endoscopies, diffused imaging, spectroscopy);
- New techniques in microscopy and other emerging techniques (superresolution techniques, contrasts for microscopy, in vivo imaging);
- Analytical systems (microarrays, high-throughput detection);
- MD perspectives (unmet clinical needs); and
- Industry perspectives (the implementation process, device success stories).
