Understanding Multi-Photon Bio-Imaging
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, OSKAR
On the 29th of June 2016, Optics Students Karlsruhe e.V. (OSKar) hosted an OSA Traveling Lecturer at the Light Technology Institute (LTI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The lecture program is sponsored by The Optical Society. This year we are honored to have invited the OSA Fellow, Professor Chris Xu from Cornell University, USA to fly to Karlsruhe, Germany and give a presentation on multi-photon bio-imaging to the students and professors in KIT. The professor was invited by OSKar’s president, Xiang Gao. They knew each other since 2014 summer in Peking, China and still keep in contact. Though the main focus of the talk was specialized on the improved multi-photon imaging techniques, there are many students and professors of different backgrounds and research areas who attended. Professor Xu showed us the latest achievement in his laboratory, i.e. the deep imaging down to millimeter below the surface of a living mouse’s brain by using 2 and 3-photon-absorption. In the images he showed, we could clearly see the structure and topology of the neurons, which were not yet discovered to such detailed level before. That should be attributed to the multi-photon in vivo bio-imaging methods. The audience was amazed by the excellent research work in Professor Xu’s group and attractive presentation style.
The lecture was followed by a small meet up with food and drinks, where the attendees could talk to the professor in a more relaxed atmosphere. Professor Xu shared his experience in his study many years ago in China and in the USA, and the stories in his research career and life. Students felt it a great chance to talk with Professor Xu. They also discussed with him about academic and other issues. Both of the sides really enjoyed the impressive communication. Before the lecture on that day, OSKar also arranged several lab visits in KIT for Professor Xu. Professor Nienhaus from the Applied Physics Institute and Professor Bastmeyer from the Zoology Institute invited Professor Xu to their labs on bio-imaging and neuroscience. Especially in Professor Nienhaus’s lab, Professor Xu gave some useful advice to the newly built setup of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) experiment, e.g. the scheme of two-photon or multi-photon FCS experiments. This is quite a new idea which is promising for research on dynamics of certain proteins and their binding. After the lab visits, Professor Xu attended the annual PhD students seminar in Karlsruhe School of Optics & Photonics (KSOP) as guest. As the organizer of this event, we, OSKar, are very grateful to OSA and especially to Professor Xu for this exciting event. Not only his rich knowledge on optics and photonics amazed us, but also his humorous talking style and kindliness impressed us so much. The communication between Professor Xu and our students generated sparks of joy and inspiration, which is beneficial for the students to get knowledge and experience, and keep going on their ways to their own goals. We are looking forward to holding more and more such meaningful activities in the future.
