A key factor for understanding light-tissue interaction – be it for imaging, therapy or surgery – is taking into account the diffusive propagation of light inside strongly scattering biological tissues.
Our research is directed along following branches:
- Simulation of light propagation: For simple geometries and optical properties fulfilling certain conditions, analytic solutions exist for describing the time-dependent spatial distribution of light intensity. In many cases, however, the underlying models are not able to describe reality in a satisfactory way. Therefore, we have developed a general-purpose Monte Carlo simulation software to model light propagation in soft condensed matter such as biological tissues. This software is composed of a user interface in IDL/GDL combined with a stand-alone photon path generation routine implemented in C++, and was rigorously validated by comparison with experimental results.
- We are developing experimental setups for the accurate optical characterization of highly scattering media based on our light propagation models.
- We investigate polarimetric imaging and fluorescence life time imaging in strongly scattering media, with the prospects of developing novel diagnostic techniques.
- Mucociliary clearance is a vital process, and dysfunction results in severe disease. Whereas the anatomical structure and function of the underlying actors – the cilia – is well known, the way how cilia coordinate to promote mucociliary transport is still a topic of debate. We focus on the investigation of mucociliary transport in living tissue samples using microscopic techniques on one hand, and on the development of models of a self-organising epithelium on the other hand.
