Steven L. Jacques, Ph.D.
Steven L. Jacques, Ph.D.
Professor of Dermatology and Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical Optics Program
Dermatology Research Division
Dr. Jacques' Biophotonics Laboratory develops novel uses of lasers and light in medicine and biology. Applications are both therapeutic and diagnostic. Current projects include:
A polarized light camera to find margins of skin cancer and guide surgery
This camera uses polarized light to discriminate light that has penetrated deeply into skin versus light that has scattered back from superficial skin layers. The deeply penetrating light washes out all detail, which is why the doctor's eye cannot see the details of skin cancer. The superficially scattered light shows the details of the skin, such that the skin looks like a fabric with a complex weave. Cancer disrupts this fabric pattern, and the doctor's eye can readily discern the flaw in the fabric, to identify the cancer margin.
Biomedical Optics Program
Dermatology Research Division
Overview
Dr. Steven Jacques received his Ph.D. in Biophysics and Medical Physics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Jacques' Biophotonics Laboratory develops novel uses of lasers and light in medicine and biology. Applications are both therapeutic and diagnostic. Current projects include:
A polarized light camera to find margins of skin cancer and guide surgery
This camera uses polarized light to discriminate light that has penetrated deeply into skin versus light that has scattered back from superficial skin layers. The deeply penetrating light washes out all detail, which is why the doctor's eye cannot see the details of skin cancer. The superficially scattered light shows the details of the skin, such that the skin looks like a fabric with a complex weave. Cancer disrupts this fabric pattern, and the doctor's eye can readily discern the flaw in the fabric, to identify the cancer margin.
A spectral camera to detect the color of portwine stain lesions after laser treatment
and to predict treatment outcome
Pulsed laser or pulsed light treatment of portwine stain lesions (PWS) causes selective heating of the blood
vessels and elicits clot formation. The PWS becomes ischemic (no oxygen) without blood flow, and the body
responds by removing the PWS. However, if the clot loosens, the blood flow is re-established, and the PWS
is rescued. Treatment fails. We developed a spectral camera that takes a set of images using different colors
of light. Analysis yields an image that discriminates clotted versus flowing PWS. Hence, the camera can find
areas that will fail treatment unless the doctor touches up that area with a little more treatment.
Bedside pathology to aid faster Mohs surgery of skin cancers In Mohs surgery, the surgeon removes tissue with cancer, and the tissue specimen is given to the histopathology lab to freeze, slice and stain the tissue. This takes about 20-45 min. Once ready, the tissue slices are returned to the surgeon for microscopic analysis. If the margins still have cancer, the surgeon then removes more tissue, and the process repeats. This is slow. The patient must wait between each surgical stage, and the surgeon works on several patients during this wait. We are developing a rapid method of obtaining microscopic images of tissue specimens that takes only about 8 min. The method uses a novel staining procedure based on fluorescence dyes, and the microscope is a novel confocal fluorescent microscope. The goal is the change how Mohs surgery is done, allowing the surgeon to work on one patient continuously until completion of the surgery.
Selected publications:
Journals:
Jacques SL. Spectral imaging and analysis to yield tissue optical properties. J Innovative Optical Health Sciences, 2009, 2(2):1-7
Didychuk CL, P Ephrat, A Chamson-Reig, SL Jacques, and JJL Carson. Depth of photothermal conversion of gold nanorods embedded in a tissue-like phantom. Nanotechnology, 2009 (in press)
Samatham R, SL Jacques, P Campagnola. Optical properties of mutant vs wildtype mouse skin measured by reflectance-mode confocal scanning laser microscopy (rCSLM). J Biomed Optics, Vol. 13, 041309, 2008
Choudhury N, G Song, F Chen, S Matthews, T Tschinkel, J Zheng, SL Jacques, AL Nuttall. Low coherence interferometry of the cochlear partition. Hearing Res, 2008
Wang RK, SL Jacques, Z Ma, S Hurst, SR Hanson, A Gruber. Three dimensional optical angiography. Optics Express, 15(7): 4083-4097, 2007
Gareau DS, G Merlino, C Corless, M Kulesz-Martin, SL Jacques. Noninvasive imaging of melanoma with reflectance mode confocal scanning laser microscopy in a murine model. J Investigative Dermatology, 27(9):2184-90, 2007
Jacques SL, Ratio of entropy to enthalpy for thermal transitions in biological tissues. J Biomed Optics, 2006
Chapters/invited reviews:
Jacques SL, BW Pogue. Tutorial on diffuse light transport. J Biomed Optics, 13(4):041309, 2008
Jacques SL, D Levitz, R Samatham, DS Gareau, N Choudhury, F Truffer. Ch. 6: Light scattering in confocal reflectance microscopy. In Biomedical Applications of Light Scattering, ed. A. Wax, publ. McGraw-Hill, (in press 2009)
Bedside pathology to aid faster Mohs surgery of skin cancers In Mohs surgery, the surgeon removes tissue with cancer, and the tissue specimen is given to the histopathology lab to freeze, slice and stain the tissue. This takes about 20-45 min. Once ready, the tissue slices are returned to the surgeon for microscopic analysis. If the margins still have cancer, the surgeon then removes more tissue, and the process repeats. This is slow. The patient must wait between each surgical stage, and the surgeon works on several patients during this wait. We are developing a rapid method of obtaining microscopic images of tissue specimens that takes only about 8 min. The method uses a novel staining procedure based on fluorescence dyes, and the microscope is a novel confocal fluorescent microscope. The goal is the change how Mohs surgery is done, allowing the surgeon to work on one patient continuously until completion of the surgery.
Selected publications:
Journals:
Jacques SL. Spectral imaging and analysis to yield tissue optical properties. J Innovative Optical Health Sciences, 2009, 2(2):1-7
Didychuk CL, P Ephrat, A Chamson-Reig, SL Jacques, and JJL Carson. Depth of photothermal conversion of gold nanorods embedded in a tissue-like phantom. Nanotechnology, 2009 (in press)
Samatham R, SL Jacques, P Campagnola. Optical properties of mutant vs wildtype mouse skin measured by reflectance-mode confocal scanning laser microscopy (rCSLM). J Biomed Optics, Vol. 13, 041309, 2008
Choudhury N, G Song, F Chen, S Matthews, T Tschinkel, J Zheng, SL Jacques, AL Nuttall. Low coherence interferometry of the cochlear partition. Hearing Res, 2008
Wang RK, SL Jacques, Z Ma, S Hurst, SR Hanson, A Gruber. Three dimensional optical angiography. Optics Express, 15(7): 4083-4097, 2007
Gareau DS, G Merlino, C Corless, M Kulesz-Martin, SL Jacques. Noninvasive imaging of melanoma with reflectance mode confocal scanning laser microscopy in a murine model. J Investigative Dermatology, 27(9):2184-90, 2007
Jacques SL, Ratio of entropy to enthalpy for thermal transitions in biological tissues. J Biomed Optics, 2006
Chapters/invited reviews:
Jacques SL, BW Pogue. Tutorial on diffuse light transport. J Biomed Optics, 13(4):041309, 2008
Jacques SL, D Levitz, R Samatham, DS Gareau, N Choudhury, F Truffer. Ch. 6: Light scattering in confocal reflectance microscopy. In Biomedical Applications of Light Scattering, ed. A. Wax, publ. McGraw-Hill, (in press 2009)