Winter 07: New Voices at BME

Rensselaer’s junior biotech faculty tackle everything from back pain to biophotonics


Xavier Intes
Xavier Intes: Shedding Light on Imaging

Shedding Light on Imaging

“Optical molecular imaging has the potential to revolutionize medicine as we know it,” said Xavier Intes. No wonder the BME assistant professor has devoted his research to biophotonics: the emerging field that deals with the interaction of biological matter and light.

Among other areas, he plans to explore the development of clinical optical apparatus—a machine that can image function as well as structure. “Near-infrared light penetrates deeply into tissue, allowing successful imaging of organs such as the brain or the breast,” he explained. “Moreover, the light at these wavelengths is sensitive to the functional state of the tissue. The relative cost, non-invasive nature, and fast acquisition speed make such optical imaging apparatus very attractive for the clinical community.”

One limitation of light in general is that it diffuses rapidly in biological tissue, resulting in low-resolution images that impede accurate diagnosis. Naturally, Intes is working on this too. Two strategies form his primary focus: increasing the amount of information delivered by the light, and developing software that uses a high-resolution image of tissue—a sort of template—to guide optical data processing of the same tissue.

Intes’s research may help the lot of patients in another way too: by speeding up the drug discovery process. “Due to its remarkable sensitivity and low cost, optical imaging is an excellent candidate to provide quantitative instrumentation for small animal studies,” Intes explained. “Such instrumentation allows high throughput and longitudinal studies in the same animal—a key to streamlining the development of new drugs and therapies.”

Clearly, the ultimate impact of biophotonics research could be far-reaching indeed. “By advancing drug development and imaging resolution, advances in optical imaging could help to save many lives,” Intes said. “That alone motivates me to pursue this research.”