U-care: Deep ultraviolet light therapies

光的独特特性使它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只有通过光纤网络的巨大容量才能实现，在光纤网络中，细玻璃链被用来在全球范围内以高速光信号的形式传输大量信息。光还影响着我们社会的各个领域，如激光制造、太阳能、天基遥感甚至天文学。在医学领域，光的特性开启了原本不可能实现的能力。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。这涉及到两种不同的激光器。在第一步中，激光产生非常短的红外光脉冲，在眼睛的前表面切割一个皮瓣，以提供通道。在第二步中，另一种产生更长的紫外线脉冲的激光雕刻角膜的形状并纠正聚焦误差。然后将皮瓣折叠回原位，这样角膜就可以愈合了。在这个例子中，两种截然不同的激光系统说明了一个重要的问题：光对人体组织的影响高度依赖于光和相关组织的特定特性。为了雕刻角膜，193 nm的激光波长处于电磁波谱的深紫外区，比我们所熟悉的可见范围（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，所以基本上所有的光的能量都沉积在表面。因此，每次光脉冲只会移除或“切除”一层非常薄的组织（几微米厚），从而促进非常精确的角膜形状和准确调整其聚焦特性。ArF准分子气体激光器可以产生193nm的光，这是一种有40年历史的技术，产生的是质量差、亮度低的光束。这适用于角膜整形，但不适用于其他需要高质量深紫外光束的重要治疗。不幸的是，产生这种短波长的替代方法是不平凡的，导致复杂和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：细胞精确的癌症手术，以及抗药性“超级细菌”的出现。重要的是，U-care将让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。通过这种综合方式，我们将在2050年之前推动深紫外线疗法对医疗保健的影响和在诊所的广泛应用。

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.