This BioBrillouin Action will establish a collaborative network of European researchers and instrument developers working in the field of Brillouin Light Scattering Spectroscopy (BLSS) applied to life sciences and health related problems. BLSS uses visible or infrared light from a laser source to probe the mechanics of a material through light scattering from thermally induced acoustic modes. It can give access to the viscoelasticity and structure of matter in a non-destructive contactless way, and when coupled to optical (confocal) microscopy, has proven to be particularly well suited for biomedical applications. Though an established tool in condensed matter physics, only more recently has BLSS seen promising applications in the life sciences and medical diagnostics. This can largely be attributed to advances in instrument (spectrometer) design coupled with increasing interest in the biomechanics of cells and tissues and their relation to disease, underlying genetics and biochemistry. There are now a significant and increasing number of researchers actively working in BLSS for biomedical research in Europe. It is the aim of the BioBrillouin Action to for the first time bring together the diverse community working in the field, which includes instrument developers, physicists, chemists, biologists and clinicians, with the core aim of stimulating collaboration, promoting technological advancement and paving the way towards routine life science research and clinical applications of BLSS.
Brillouin Light Scattering Spectroscopy - Optical microscopy - viscoelasticity - Biomechanics - mechanobiology
