Where optics meets medicine(t of the disease however. In the last de...)

New optical techniques may allow the link between altered blood flow and Alzheimer's disease to be studied further by enabling scientists to directly look at the effect of clots in the brain's microvasculature on the development of Alzheimer's. Chris Schaffer and his colleagues at Cornell University use tightly focused femtosecond lasers to introduce clots in the microvasculature in the brains of rodents. The laser cuts open the cells lining the blood vessels, triggering natural clotting mechanisms and leading to the formation of an occlusion. The clotting process, as well as the subsequent changes in the brain, can be followed with fluorescence microscopy.

Schaffer and his colleagues are looking at whether putting tiny clots in the microvasculature can exacerbate Alzheimer's disease. Using transgenic mice that are predisposed to developing early-onset Alzheimer's disease, they have already shown that clotting a microvessel triggers the formation of new protein plaques. Next they plan to systematically study the effect of these clots on the cognitive decline of the Alzheimer's mice.

Presentation FTuE4, "Femtosecond Laser-Induced Microvascular Clots Trigger Alzheimer's Disease Pathology," Tuesday, Oct. 21, 9:15 a.m., Highland E, Rochester Riverside Convention Center

At the University of Michigan, a multidisciplinary team of researchers is investigating whether tissue optical spectroscopy can be employed for early cancer detection in the pancreas during minimally-invasive endoscopic diagnostic procedures. Their objective is to help physicians distinguish between cancerous tissue transformations and benign changes in tissues du
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