LASER Munich 2015 is bio-bent

As in past years, the 2015 edition of the biennial event LASER World of Photonics (a.k.a. LASER Munich; June 22-25) included the European Conferences on Biomedical Optics (ECBO) among its six sections. This year, ECBO’s themes were:

• Advanced microscopy;
• Clinical and biomedical spectroscopy and imaging;
• Diffuse optical imaging;
• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and other coherence techniques;
• Medical laser applications and laser-tissue interactions;
• Optoacoustic methods and applications;
• Novel biophotonic techniques and applications; and
• Neurophotonics.

The Congress spread from lecture halls to the exhibit halls with its “practice-oriented application” sessions, divided into four categories, one of which is dedicated to life sciences. Called Biophotonics and Medical Applications, it featured:

• Laser Advanced New Methods for Diagnostics and Therapeutics, which devoted two talks to translation of photoacoustics technology to clinical systems; Laser Applications and Optical Diagnostics in Ophthalmology, which featured updates on cataract surgery, molecular imaging of the retina, and intraoperative application of OCT;
  
• Visions for Future Diagnostics: Infectious Diseases, which addressed point-of-care solutions including spectroscopic approaches; and
• Innovation and Trends for Laser Solutions in Life Sciences and Bioinstrumentation, which provided updates on ultrafast, supercontinuum fiber, and multi-color diode lasers, optimization of lasers for low-cost bio applications, and integration into instruments.

Other topics that caught my attention were UV laser sources for biophotonics applications (a theme that surfaced also at SPIE Photonics West 2015), and a Global Industry Profile on Biophotonics delivered by SPIE’s Steve Anderson (former editor-in-chief at Laser Focus World). And of course, plenty of product launches—more on that front shortly!