LASER INSTRUMENT FOR IN VITRO PHOTOTHERMAL ABLATION

DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from the Applicant's Abstract). It is proposed to develop an IR pulsed laser ablation system for assisted (IVF). The ablation will be used to ablate the zona pellucida (ZP) to assist embryo hatching from the ZP to facilitate reimplantation. A wavelength has been selected (1480nm) that will allow the light to be delivered through a microscope objective, the bottom of the culture dish and the culture medium. This is in contrast to other systems that work at longer wavelengths that are strongly absorbed by water where the light has to be delivered by an optical fiber in contact with the embryo. An additional advantage of this wavelength is that it can be generated by relatively inexpensive laser diodes. It is proposed to commission Zeiss to develop a custom, long working-distance objective that is optimized for operation at 1480 nm. By the use of a fluorescence temperature indicator, conditions for irradiation will be determined (pulse width, power) that give optimal localized ablations with minimum thermal and mechanical shock damage to adjacent regions. $ = TOTAL AWARD AMTS & NOT LIMITED TO PORTION OF PROJECT RELATED TO SUBJECT OF SEARCH SUBPROJECT $ = TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT DIVIDED BY NUMBER OF SUBPROJECTS SOURCE: CRISP FORMAT F FY 97 LAST UPDATE 04-07-98 1QUERY 1536 ID SEARCH 06/01/98 PAGE 527 --PROJECT NUMBER......1 R43 RR12279-01 INVESTIGATOR NAME/ADDRESS FY 97 HANG, JIM IRG/INTRAMURAL UNIT..ZRG2 NEW DIMENSION RES & INSTRU, IN AWARD AMOUNT......... $100,000 60 SOUTH BEDFORD ST WOBURN, MA 01801 PERFORMING ORGANIZATION: NEW DIMENSIONS RES AND INSTRUMENT, INC. TITLE CONFOCAL SCANNING MICRO-LASER/DETECTOR MICROSCOPE ABSTRACT: The Small Innovation Research Phase I program will develop a design of a portable confocal laser microscope for high contrast images and small depth of view of thick specimens. This would produce blur-free, crisp images of thick specimens at various depths. This microscope is particularly suited for biological investigations. It is intended for the observation of objects embedded within transparent or translucent bodies in three dimensions, such as nerve cells in an intact brain. Specific aims of the phase I study are to: 1) develop a design of a portable confocal microscope by a using a proprietary laser device, 2) obtain the 14X14 image from laser device with high magnification and contrast, and 3) exploring the possibility of digital imaging for Internet data transmission. Completion of these phase I tasks will demonstrate the technical feasibility of the proposed portable microscope and lay the necessary foundation for subsequent Phase II development efforts.