Photon Transport in Biological Tissue - Noninvasive Sensing for Imaging and Substance Identification

This presentation, shows how mathematical modelling of complex systems in the optics discipline can be successfully utilized to develop novel methods to describe photon transport in biological structures and subsequently use that knowledge to develop an effective technique to measure glucose like substances in blood. Specifically, intended to demonstrate the use of photonic crystals (i.e a glass rod with micrometer size holes drilled in a certain way to enhance light guiding properties) in tissue as a way to enhance the nonlinear optical properties of light interaction with blood. Photonic crystal structures are widely used in optical communications work. However, they have not yet found significant applications in the biomedical area.