Translational Biophotonics
A series in the Journal of Biomedical Optics focuses on translational research.
A special series of papers in the Journal of Biomedical Optics focuses on translational research and the unique challenges to the biophotonics and biomedical optics communities of moving research findings from the lab to the market and patient care.
The 19 original articles and a commentary are published in 10 issues beginning in June 2016 and are meant to complement research presented at both the translational research track at BiOS 2016, part of the annual SPIE Photonics West symposium, and SPIE Translational Biophotonics, held in May 2016.
The papers include an open-access commentary on the origins and activities of three major biophotonics labs:
- Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic at University of California, Irvine (USA)
- Medical Laser Center Lübeck at the University of Lübeck (Germany)
- Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (USA)
In “Biomedical optics centers: forty years of multidisciplinary clinical translation for improving human health,” current and past leaders of the centers discuss the multidisciplinary research and training activities at pioneering centers of translational biophotonics research.
The authors also discuss the centers’ light-based technologies for diagnosis and therapy, including medical lasers, endoscopes, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and near-infrared oximetry, and the diverse funding portfolios and entrepreneurial culture needed to be successful.
“We identify pathways for encouraging the growth and formation of similar programs in order to more rapidly and effectively expand the impact of biophotonics and biomedical optics on human health,” the authors write.
Authors include SPIE Fellows Bruce J. Tromberg, Beckman director; Michael W. Berns, Beckman cofounder; and R. Rox Anderson, Wellman director. Other authors are SPIE members Reginald Birngruber, retired as CEO of the Lübeck Center, and Gabriela Apiou-Sbirlea, from the Wellman Center, along with Ralf Brinkmann from Lübeck and John A. Parrish, CEO and founder of the Consortia for Improving Medicine with Innovation and Technology (CIMIT).
Tromberg and Apiou-Sbirlea are chairs of the translational research track at SPIE Photonics West.
Read the article on the biomedical optics centers and other articles in the special series on translational biophotonics.
The Journal of Biomedical Optics publishes peer-reviewed papers on the use of modern optical technology for improved health care and biomedical research. SPIE Fellow Lihong Wang is editor-in-chief.
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