Using the tools of physics in biology and medicine

Seven researchers present the medical and biological applications of techniques originally developed in the field of physics.Sigrid Avrillier (Laboratoire de physique des lasers, Villetaneuse) describes a laser sensor which can be used to measure the oxygenation properties of tissues.Philippe Lanièce (Institut de physique nucléaire, Orsay) describes a high-resolution tomography system (TOHR) used to obtain an image of the brain of a small animal.Pascal Laugier (Laboratoire d'imagerie paramétrique, Faculty of medicine, Paris) investigates the use of ultrasound in medical imaging.Bernard Renault (Laboratoire Neurosciences cognitives et imagerie cérébrale, Pitié Salpétrière hospital, Paris) uses magneto-encephalography and electro-encephalography to localize the brain's areas of activity and connect them to a patient's gestures. Mathias Fink (Laboratoire Ondes et acoustique, Ecole supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielle, Paris) presents a very high frequency ultrasound detector which can visualize shear waves in tissue and differentiate them by texture (by identifying nodules harder than the soft tissue which surrounds them). Jacques Bittoun (Unité de recherche en résonance magnétique médicale, Kremlin Bicêtre hospital) uses MRI to study cardiac and pulmonary function. Didier Chatenay (Laboratoire de dynamique des fluides complexes, Strasbourg) is interested in the structure of RNA manipulated via laser in order to measure folding during transcription.