PhD Candidate
KONSTANTINOS MAVRAKIS
mavrakis@materials.uoc.gr
Phone
Office
Personal web page
Title
“Development of a multiparametric label-free imaging system for the early diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders through the ocular cavity
Supervisor
TZORTZAKIS STILIANOS, Professor, Materials Science & Technology Dept. - UOC
Committee Members
PAPAZOGLOU DIMITRIOS, Associate Professor, Materials Science & Technology Dept. - UOC
ZACHARAKIS IOANNIS, Researcher B, FORTH, Heraklion Crete GREECE
Abstract
In this novel imaging system, we will combine three non-invasive and label free imaging techniques: Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM), Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) and Raman spectroscopy. PAM exhibits resolution comparable to that of optical microscopy but can penetrate deeper. The increased possibilities stem from the fundamental scattering difference between light and sound, which constitute the signal for optical microscopy and PAM respectively. PAM, SHG and Raman are combined complementary and will thus produce a wide range of information. SHG can provide information about biological structures such as lipid depositions while Raman spectroscopy provides chemical information with high specificity allowing thus molecular pattern recognition inside tissues and their association with diseases and pathological conditions. Furthermore, adaptive optics will be incorporated in the system in order to shape the wavefront and mitigate variations of the refractive index. This wavefront shaping will reveal information that would have been otherwise inaccessible. Using these techniques, even sensitive and unreachable structures like the retina and the ocular cavity can be investigated with high resolution. Τhe nerve fibers in the ocular cavity are essentially an extension of the Central nervous system and since several neurodegenerative disorders present symptoms in the cavity, they could be diagnosed before the manifestation of conventional symptoms.