title: Photons across medicine: relating optical and nuclear imaging.
abstract: The Optics in the Life Sciences conference sponsored by the Optical Society of America was held in Waikoloa Beach, HI on April 14 - 18, 2013. Papers were presented in the areas of Bio-Optics: Design & Application, Novel Techniques in Microscopy, Optical Molecular Probes, Imaging & Drug Delivery, and Optical Trapping Applications. A focal point of the meeting was a special symposium entitled "Photons Across Medicine", organized by Adam Wax, Duke University, highlighting activities of joint interest between the Optical Society of America (OSA) and the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI). This paper is a synopsis of the presentations made at this joint symposium. Central to the special symposium presentations was the fact that the optical and nuclear imaging communities share common interests and challenges. These are highlighted in this article. Also discussed was the fact that the nuclear technologies in imaging have found their way into general clinical utility, a feat that has yet to be achieved by optical methods. Because of the common ground shared by the two technologies, coordination between the two societies should be planned.
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Institute of NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nordstrom
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, 95616 USA.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cherry
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health and Science Center, Houston, TX, 77030 USA.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Azhdarinia
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health and Science Center, Houston, TX, 77030 USA.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sevick-Muraca
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94143 USA.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vanbrocklin
keywords: (170.0110) Imaging systems; (170.0170) Medical optics and biotechnology; (170.3880) Medical and biological imaging; (170.3890) Medical optics instrumentation