Laser Combs Through Breath- a Novel Technology for Medical Diagnostics
Abstract
The proposed fundamental research aims at extending the Nobel Prize-winning concept of the optical frequency combs - series of some million equidistant spectral lines oscillating in unison- to the mid-infrared-terahertz portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to quickly and reliably detect hundreds of biomarker molecules in exhaled human breath, thereby opening a gold mine of data on body metabolism and medical conditions. Mapping biomarker patterns to specific diseases will pave the way for new non-invasive, accurate breath-based medical diagnostics that work in real time at the point of care. The proposed system will use ultra-broadband (more than two-octave-wide) optical frequency combs that will operate in the MWIR-LWIR-THz molecular fingerprint region of the electromagnetic spectrum where biomarker molecules exhibit their strongest fundamental vibrational and rotational resonances. The system will be based on two new techniques for long-wave comb generation developed by the PI, namely optical subharmonic generation and intrapulse difference frequency generation, both using ultrafast mode-locked lasers as a pump source. The proposed detection method, dual-comb spectroscopy, - allows an unprecedented combination of broadband coverage and, at the same time, superior spectral resolution, high speed, and massive parallelism of data collection. With the ability of detecting about a million comb-line-resolved spectral datapoints in real time with the absolute accuracy of the optical frequency scale through referencing to a rubidium atomic clock, the system will be able to simultaneously identify hundreds of molecular species in a mixture and their absolute concentration with better than part-per-billion sensitivity. This will set the stage for mapping biomarker patterns to specific diseases in future medical exhaled breath studies and has the potential to revolutionize modern medicine by enabling the early diagnostics of many diseases.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 06, 2025
- Source ID
- FA95502410196
Entities
People
- Konstantin L. Vodopyanov
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of Central Florida Board of Trustees