Market figures show that biophotonics is a growth market. One of the drawbacks of European biophotonics to date has been that it still works on a very small scale. The recently launched European network of excellence in biophotonics, "photonics4life", could change that. 

The network is a collaboration, funded by the EU to the tune of EUR 4 m as part of the 7th framework programme, of 13 top-class European research institutions that have set themselves the tasks of tapping the potential of biophotonics in Europe as well as possible. In addition to the Institute for Photonic Technologies at the University of Jena, the institutions involved include the Karlsruhe Research Institute (part of the Helmholtz Association), the University of Münster, the University of Twente in the Netherlands and research institutes in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Finland, the UK and Russia. The funding will last 4 years.

The scientists' goal is to use the most modern optical technologies to optimize healthcare in the future in such a way that diagnosis and treatment of endemic diseases such as cancer and infections can be tailored to the individual patients. Biophotonics research should give medicine the necessary tools and at the same time create highly efficient and affordable therapy options.

In addition, the researchers are concerned to intensify the co-operation between various academic disciplines. Co-operation with industry should also be greater, not least by ensuring that start-up companies are supported by the institutes.

"The network was created from the awareness that a paradigm shift needed to take place in biophotonics from a technological approach to a holistic one that focuses on health professionals and patients," says Prof. Jürgen Popp, the co-ordinator of photonics4life, describing the reasons for establishing the network.

In the past there have been problems because biophotonics comprises such varied disciplines as physics, chemistry, biology, engineering and medicine. There was also a discrepancy between basic research and the actual needs of user and patients. "To overcome these shortcomings, research activities in biophotonics should be bundled by the new network such that optimum knowledge transfer ensures that the opportunities that optical technologies open up in medicine are actually used in practice," Popp explains.

The individual projects that the scientists are working on include, for example, new spectroscope procedures to identify bacteria and cells for a complementary and faster diagnosis of diseases. They are also developing innovative laser applications for medical diagnosis, surgery and therapy and are working on theoretical studies into the interaction between laser light and biological tissue. Other research focuses include the further development of optical tomography procedures for obtaining information on tissue abnormalities and the development of new types of optical methods for the early detection of cancer.