Surface-emitting semiconductor laser spectroscopy and microscopy for characterizing normal and sickled red blood cells

Paul Lee Gourley; Ken E. Meissner; Thomas M. Brennan; B. Eugene Hammons; Mark F. Gourley M.D.

doi:10.1117/12.206815

12 April 1995 Surface-emitting semiconductor laser spectroscopy and microscopy for characterizing normal and sickled red blood cells

Paul Lee Gourley, Ken E. Meissner, Thomas M. Brennan, B. Eugene Hammons, Mark F. Gourley M.D.

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2387, Advances in Laser and Light Spectroscopy to Diagnose Cancer and Other Diseases II; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.206815
Event: Photonics West '95, 1995, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

We have developed a new intracavity laser technique that uses living or fixed cells at integral components of a laser. The cells are placed on an AlGaAs/GaAs surface-emitting semiconductor wafer and covered with a glass dielectric mirror to form a laser resonator. In this arrangement, the cells serve as optical waveguides (or lens elements) to confine (or focus) light generated in the resonator by the semiconductor. Because of the high transparency, the cells aid the lasing process to generate laser light. This ultra sensitive laser provides a novel imaging/spectroscopic technique for histologic examination which we demonstrate with normal and sickled human red blood cells. Extremely high contrast microscopic images of the cells are observed near 830-850 nm. These images correspond to electromagnetic modes of cell structures and are sensitive to shape of the cell. Using a high resolution spectrometer, we resolve the light emitted from these images into very narrow spectral peaks associated with the lasing modes. Analysis of the spectra reveals that the distribution of peaks is quite different for normal and sickled red blood cells. This technique, in a more developed form, may be useful for the rapid analysis of these and other kinds of normal and abnormal cells.

Citation Download Citation

Paul Lee Gourley, Ken E. Meissner, Thomas M. Brennan, B. Eugene Hammons, and Mark F. Gourley M.D. "Surface-emitting semiconductor laser spectroscopy and microscopy for characterizing normal and sickled red blood cells", Proc. SPIE 2387, Advances in Laser and Light Spectroscopy to Diagnose Cancer and Other Diseases II, (12 April 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.206815

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