Medical Optics and Photonics
Optical and photonic technologies are essential tools in biomedical research. This includes microscopy techniques that allow a view on structures an processes in the living cell, such as receptor mechanisms. For diagnosis, a variety of spectroscopic methods are used or under development, as well as optical technologies in therapy, for example in ophthalmology.
Research groups at JUH, or alliances JUH scientists are involved in:
DFG projects
- FOR 2518 DynIon
The Research Unit combines experimental and computational strategies to study functional dynamics of ion channels and transporters. - RTG 3014 PhINT
Light drives biological, chemical, and physical processes that can, for example, also control the structure and function of materials. The Research Training Group "PhInt – Photopolarizable Interfaces and Membranes" investigates the underlying interactions between light and new materials. -
The TOOLS research initiative - Tailored Optics for Life Sciences Engineering - is an interdisciplinary collaboration of experts from the fields of optics and photonics, biomedical engineering, and clinical research. This project conducts basic research on optical technologies and biophotonic techniques to improve the understanding of biomedical processes in clinical settings.
Federally funded projects
- Research Campus Infectognostics
The aim of this public-private partnership with more than 30 partners from science, medicine and industry is to research and develop technical solutions for the highly efficient and rapid on-site detection of infections and to identify novel markers for pathogen diagnostics. - The Leibniz Center for Photonics in Infection Research (LPI) in Jena researches light-based technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. The federally funded center is supported by four Jena-based partners: the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the University Hospital Jena, and the Leibniz IPHT and Leibniz HKI institutes.
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SARSCoV2DX - Early and rapid methods for diagnosis and treatment of viral infections
The goal of the collaboration between Jena University Hospital, the Jena Leibniz Institutes for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology and for Photonic Technologies, and Friedrich Schiller University Jena is to accelerate the diagnosis of viral respiratory infections. The partners aim to develop methods and technologies based on COVID-19 that can detect viral outbreaks earlier and support their containment.
EU projects
- The CHARM consortium is working on developing a device that will enable rapid and cost-effective cancer diagnosis based on Raman imaging technologies and artificial intelligence.
- The TROPHY project aims to develop a novel label-free vibrational microscopy approach capable of imaging molecular biomarkers with unprecedented speed and chemical selectivity. The integration of artificial intelligence will deliver rapid results and support tumor staging during surgery. This will lead to therapies tailored to tumor characteristics and improved clinical outcomes, including higher survival rates.
Thuringian projects
- ThIMEDOP - Thuringian Innovation Center for Medical Technology Solutions
ThIMEDOP combines the technological strengths of our region in optics and photonics with the clinical focus of the UKJ in sepsis research and aging research through the development of technology-, photonic-optical and clinical-experimental oriented methods and systems for early detection, diagnosis, therapy and rehabilitation. - As part of the ScoreChip project , disease-specific biochemical reactions should be able to be interrogated directly from a clinical sample. To this end, the researchers, together with the Thuringian companies Mildendo and INVIGATE and the Institute of Microelectronics and Mechatronic Systems (Ilmenau), are developing a miniaturized chip platform that is designed to be cost-effective and flexible.
Projects supported by foundations
- The Carl Zeiss Professorship for Microscopic Image Analysis working group develops algorithms and analysis tools for the evaluation of biomedical imaging and measurement data.
- In the Sensored Surgery project, an interdisciplinary team is developing a sensor-based support system that can continuously visualize and haptically convey tissue boundaries to surgeons during tumor surgery. The Carl Zeiss Foundation is funding the project through its "CZS Breakthroughs" program.