Dr Michael Hughes, who recently joined the Applied Optics Group as a Lecturer, has been awarded £100,000 of research funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to investigate a new approach to optical biopsy in a needle. The grant, titled ‘Ultrathin fluorescence microscope in a needle’ will fund development of a proof-of-concept prototype for a high-resolution fluorescence microscope which can fit inside a needle only a few tenths of a millimetre in diameter. This will then offer a potentially less-invasive and real-time alternative to a conventional needle biopsy, which involves extracting a small quantity of tissue and sending it for post-processing in a pathology lab.
The one-year grant covers Dr Hughes’ time, consumables and travel, and we will be recruiting a postdoc to work on the project shortly. Please contact Dr. Hughes for more details.
You can read more about endomicroscopes and needle microscopes here.