U-care: Deep ultraviolet light therapies

U-care：深紫外光疗法

• 批准号: EP/T020903/1
• 负责人: Robert Thomson
• 金额: $ 781.39万
• 依托单位: Heriot-Watt University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FT020903%2F1
• 关键词: care; Deep; ultraviolet; light; therapies

The unique properties of light have made it central to our high-tech society. For example, our information-rich world is only enabled by the remarkable capacity of the fibre-optic network, where thin strands of glass are used to carry massive amounts of information around the globe as high-speed optical signals. Light also impacts areas of our society as diverse as laser-based manufacturing, solar energy, space-based remote sensing and even astronomy.One area where the properties of light open up otherwise-impossible capabilities is medicine. In ophthalmology for example, lasers are routinely used to perform surgery on the eye through corneal reshaping. This involves two different lasers. In the first step, a laser producing very short pulses of infrared light cuts a flap in the front surface of the eye to provide access. In the second step, another laser producing longer pulses of ultraviolet (UV) light sculpts the shape of the cornea and correct focusing errors. The flap is then folded back into place so that the cornea can heal.The two very-different laser systems in that example illustrate an important point: the effects of light on human tissues are highly-dependent on the specific properties of both the light and the tissues involved. To sculpt the cornea, the laser wavelength of 193 nm is in the deep UV region of the electromagnetic spectrum, much shorter than the visible range (380 - 740 nm) we are familiar with. This is because (unlike visible light) it is very efficiently absorbed by the cornea, so that essentially all the energy of the light is deposited at the surface. Thus only a very thin layer of tissue (a few microns thick) is removed, or "resected", with each pulse of light, facilitating very-precise shaping of the cornea and accurate adjustment of its focusing properties.193 nm light can be generated by an ArF excimer gas laser, a >40 year-old technology producing a poor-quality low-brightness beam of light. This is suitable for corneal reshaping, but not for a range of other important therapies requiring higher-quality deep UV beams. Unfortunately, alternative ways to generate such short wavelengths are non-trivial, resulting in complex and expensive laser systems not suitable for widespread clinical uptake.U-care aims to address this gap by exploiting cutting-edge techniques in laser physics. We will develop new sources of deep UV light which will be highly compact, robust and low cost. We will develop ways to deliver this light precisely to tissues, and work to understand in detail the biophysical mechanisms involved. Our efforts will focus on new therapies that target some of the biggest challenges facing medicine: cellular-precision cancer surgery, and the emergence of drug-resistant "super-bugs". Importantly, U-care will involve engineers and physical scientists working in close collaboration with clinicians and biomedical scientists to verify that the therapies we develop are effective and safe. By doing so in an integrated manner, we will drive our deep-UV light therapies towards healthcare impact and widespread use in the clinic by 2050.

光的独特性质使其成为我们高科技社会的核心。例如，我们这个信息丰富的世界仅仅是由光纤网络的非凡能力所促成的，在光纤网络中，细玻璃丝被用来在地球仪中以高速光信号的形式携带大量信息。光还影响着我们社会的各个领域，如激光制造、太阳能、太空遥感甚至天文学。光的特性开辟了其他不可能的能力的一个领域是医学。例如，在眼科中，激光通常用于通过角膜重塑对眼睛进行手术。这涉及两种不同的激光器。在第一步中，产生非常短的红外光脉冲的激光在眼睛的前表面切割一个皮瓣以提供访问。在第二步中，另一个激光器产生更长的紫外线（UV）脉冲，塑造角膜的形状并纠正聚焦误差。然后将角膜瓣折叠回原位，这样角膜就可以愈合。该示例中的两种截然不同的激光系统说明了一个重要点：光对人体组织的影响高度依赖于光和相关组织的特定属性。为了雕刻角膜，193 nm的激光波长处于电磁光谱的深紫外区，比我们熟悉的可见光范围（380 - 740 nm）短得多。这是因为（与可见光不同）它被角膜非常有效地吸收，因此基本上所有的光能量都沉积在表面。因此，只有一个非常薄的组织层（几微米厚）被删除，或“切除”，与每个脉冲的光，促进非常精确的角膜成形和准确调整其聚焦性能。193 nm的光可以产生的ArF准分子气体激光器，一个>40岁的技术产生质量差的低亮度光束。这适用于角膜重塑，但不适用于一系列其他需要更高质量深紫外光束的重要疗法。不幸的是，产生如此短波长的替代方法并不简单，导致复杂且昂贵的激光系统不适合广泛的临床应用。U-care旨在通过利用激光物理学的尖端技术来解决这一差距。我们将开发新的深紫外光源，这将是高度紧凑，坚固和低成本。我们将开发将这种光精确地传递到组织的方法，并努力详细了解所涉及的生物物理机制。我们的努力将集中在针对医学面临的一些最大挑战的新疗法上：细胞精确癌症手术，以及抗药性“超级细菌”的出现。重要的是，U-care将涉及工程师和物理科学家与临床医生和生物医学科学家密切合作，以验证我们开发的疗法是有效和安全的。通过以综合的方式这样做，我们将推动我们的深紫外光疗法对医疗保健的影响，并在2050年前在临床上广泛使用。

项目成果

Development of a Fiber Connectorized Ultrafast Laser Inscribed 2-Telescope Beam Combiner for the CHARA Telescope Array

为 CHARA 望远镜阵列开发光纤连接器超快激光内刻 2 望远镜光束组合器

• DOI: 10.1109/cleo/europe-eqec57999.2023.10231460
• 发表时间: 2023
• 作者: Benoît A

A miniature fiber optic ablation probe manufactured via ultrafast laser inscription and selective chemical etching

• DOI: 10.1063/5.0146147
• 发表时间: 2023-07-01
• 期刊: APL PHOTONICS
• 影响因子: 5.6
• 作者: Ehrlich，K.;Ross，C. A.;Thomson，R. R.
• 通讯作者: Thomson，R. R.

Efficient and compact source of tuneable ultrafast deep ultraviolet laser pulses at 50 kHz repetition rate

高效、紧凑的可调谐超快深紫外激光脉冲源，重复频率为 50 kHz

• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2206.07103
• 发表时间: 2022
• 作者: Brahms C

Higher-order-mode soliton dynamics in gas-filled hollow capillary fibres

• DOI: 10.1364/cleo_si.2022.sth4e.5
• 发表时间: 2022-05
• 期刊: 2022 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO)
• 作者: C. Brahms;J. Travers

Soliton self-compression and resonant dispersive wave emission in higher-order modes of a hollow capillary fibre

• DOI: 10.1088/2515-7647/ac6345
• 发表时间: 2021-12
• 期刊: Journal of Physics: Photonics
• 作者: C. Brahms;J. Travers