Listen to Dr. Grumfest as he describes how lasers, optics, and electronics are being utilized with clinicians and basic scientists to develop techniques to extract information from the brain using light and optics. These technologies, within the discipline of BIO-PHOTONICS have real potential to revolutionize how we find, and define various diseases in the brain. Dr. Grumfest talks of how we can use light to actually determine the nature of tissue; to find if its benign or malignant. We can use light to find the functional properties of tissue in regards to it oxygen consumption or its ionic balances inside the operating room when we can't use an MRI or other techniques to find information about the function and structure of the brain. Outside the operating room we are finding non invasive ways to use infrared imaging, and detect from outside the skull...there are many opportunities for using non invasive optical approaches, all within the area of bio-photonics. (The above is paraphrased, from Dr. Grumfest's interview.)

Dr. Grundfes is Professor of Bioengineering & Electrical Engineering The Henry Samueli School of Engineering & Applied Science, Professor of Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA