Abstract: The present invention relates to polymeric structures, in the form of flat membrane-like surfaces or micro- nanostruc-tures such as capsules, characterized in that it comprises a substantially two-dimensional layer of covalently-bonded monomers of R-substituted metal or metalloid oxides. Said polymeric structures in most embodiments have a crystal architecture with a hexagonal lattice, but the nature of the covalent bonds present therein impart a bending flexibility that make the polymeric structures behave as a “soft” crystal. Methods of producing such structures, composition comprising thereof and method of using thereof are also included within the present disclosure.

Abstract: The design of a proximity sensor to be integrated into cochlea implants is described. The sensor allows the anticipation of contact between the cochlear implant and intracochlear structures, including the cochlear canal wall and basilar membrane, providing a feedback or an alarm to the surgeon performing the implant insertion such that trauma to the cochlea is avoided. This helps to preserve any residual hearing ability in patients who receive the surgical implant.

Abstract: Systems and methods for imaging ear tissue include: directing illumination radiation to pass through an intact biological structure and be incident on ear tissue that does not include an exogenous fluorophore, at a plurality of locations, the illumination radiation including a plurality of light pulses each having a temporal duration of 500 femtoseconds or less; for each one of the plurality of locations, using a detector to detect radiation emitted from the location that passes through the intact biological structure; and forming an image of the tissue based on the detected radiation at each of the plurality of locations, where the emitted radiation corresponds to endogenous two-photon fluorescence of the tissue.

Abstract: Second harmonic nanoprobes for imaging biological samples and a method of using such probes to monitor the dynamics of biological process using a field resonance enhanced second harmonic (FRESH) technique are provided. The second harmonic generating (SHG) nanoprobes are comprised of various kinds of nanocrystals that do not possess an inversion symmetry and therefore are capable of generating second harmonic signals that can then be detected by conventional two-photon microscopy for in vivo imaging of biological processes and structures such as cell signaling, neuroimaging, protein conformation probing, DNA conformation probing, gene transcription, virus infection and replication in cells, protein dynamics, tumor imaging and cancer therapy evaluation and diagnosis as well as quantification in optical imaging.

Abstract: The present invention relates to polymeric structures, in the form of flat membrane-like surfaces or micro- nanostruc-tures such as capsules, characterized in that it comprises a substantially two-dimensional layer of covalently-bonded monomers of R-substituted metal or metalloid oxides. Said polymeric structures in most embodiments have a crystal architecture with a hexagonal lattice, but the nature of the covalent bonds present therein impart a bending flexibility that make the polymeric structures behave as a “soft” crystal. Methods of producing such structures, composition comprising thereof and method of using thereof are also included within the present disclosure.

Abstract: Second harmonic nanoprobes for imaging biological samples and a method of using such probes to monitor the dynamics of biological process using a field resonance enhanced second harmonic (FRESH) technique are provided. The second harmonic generating (SHG) nanoprobes are comprised of various kinds of nanocrystals that do not possess an inversion symmetry and therefore are capable of generating second harmonic signals that can then be detected by conventional two-photon microscopy for in vivo imaging of biological processes and structures such as cell signaling, neuroimaging, protein conformation probing, DNA conformation probing, gene transcription, virus infection and replication in cells, protein dynamics, tumor imaging and cancer therapy evaluation and diagnosis as well as quantification in optical imaging.

Abstract: Second harmonic nanoprobes for imaging biological samples and a method of using such probes to monitor the dynamics of biological process using a field resonance enhanced second harmonic (FRESH) technique are provided. The second harmonic generating (SHG) nanoprobes are comprised of various kinds of nanocrystals that do not possess an inversion symmetry and therefore are capable of generating second harmonic signals that can then be detected by conventional two-photon microscopy for in vivo imaging of biological processes and structures such as cell signaling, neuroimaging, protein conformation probing, DNA conformation probing, gene transcription, virus infection and replication in cells, protein dynamics, tumor imaging and cancer therapy evaluation and diagnosis as well as quantification in optical imaging.

Abstract: Systems and methods for imaging ear tissue include: directing illumination radiation to pass through an intact biological structure and be incident on ear tissue that does not include an exogenous fluorophore, at a plurality of locations, the illumination radiation including a plurality of light pulses each having a temporal duration of 500 femtoseconds or less; for each one of the plurality of locations, using a detector to detect radiation emitted from the location that passes through the intact biological structure; and forming an image of the tissue based on the detected radiation at each of the plurality of locations, where the emitted radiation corresponds to endogenous two-photon fluorescence of the tissue.

Abstract: Second harmonic nanoprobes for imaging biological samples and a method of using such probes to monitor the dynamics of biological process using a field resonance enhanced second harmonic (FRESH) technique are provided. The second harmonic generating (SHG) nanoprobes are comprised of various kinds of nanocrystals that do not possess an inversion symmetry and therefore are capable of generating second harmonic signals that can then be detected by conventional two-photon microscopy for in vivo imaging of biological processes and structures such as cell signaling, neuroimaging, protein conformation probing, DNA conformation probing, gene transcription, virus infection and replication in cells, protein dynamics, tumor imaging and cancer therapy evaluation and diagnosis as well as quantification in optical imaging.

Abstract: A harmonic holography (H2) technique and system that combines holography and nonlinear optics that enables holographic recording of 3D images with femtosecond framing time are provided. The H2 technique records holograms with second harmonic (SH) signals scattered off specialized nanocrystals that are functionalized to label specific protein or other biomolecules in a living organism. The capability of generating second harmonic radiations is specific to materials with noncentrosymmetric crystalline structures only, and ?(2) vanishes for all other types of materials. Therefore, a sharp contrast is formed when particles of noncentrosymmetric structures are dispersed in a medium of other species, pumped at a fundamental frequency, and imaged at the second harmonic frequency. The new scheme described herein provides a sound basis for a new type of contrast microscopy with enormous potential in molecular biomedical imaging.

Abstract: A harmonic holography (H2) technique and system that combines holography and nonlinear optics that enables holographic recording of 3D images with femtosecond framing time are provided. The H2 technique records holograms with second harmonic (SH) signals scattered off specialized nanocrystals that are functionalized to label specific protein or other biomolecules in a living organism. The capability of generating second harmonic radiations is specific to materials with noncentrosymmetric crystalline structures only, and ?(2) vanishes for all other types of materials. Therefore, a sharp contrast is formed when particles of noncentrosymmetric structures are dispersed in a medium of other species, pumped at a fundamental frequency, and imaged at the second harmonic frequency. The new scheme described herein provides a sound basis for a new type of contrast microscopy with enormous potential in molecular biomedical imaging.

Abstract: The proposed holographic particle image velocimetry (HPIV) system employs holograms of two time-separated particle fields, illuminated by separate reference beams on a single recording medium. 90-degree scattering is utilized for the object wave, in order to improve Numerical Aperture and resolve the third dimension of the hologram. The proposed HPIV system then uses substantially the same optical geometry for the reconstruction process. A CCD camera is utilized to extract particle subimages, thin slice by thin slice, and a centroid-finding algorithm is applied to extract centroid locations for each volume. The concise cross correlation (CCC) algorithm for extracting velocity vector fields from the centroid data is an important enabling feature of the proposed system. Correlations are calculated between subsets of centroids representing the images or cubes, and velocity vectors are computed from the individual correlations.