Public attitudes towards the use of novel technologies in their future healthcare: a UK survey.

BACKGROUND: Innovation in healthcare technologies can result in more convenient and effective treatment that is less costly, but a persistent challenge to widespread adoption in health and social care is end user acceptability. The purpose of this study was to capture UK public opinions and attitudes to novel healthcare technologies (NHTs), and to better understand the factors that contribute to acceptance and future use. METHODS: An online survey was distributed to the UK public between April and May 2020. Respondents received brief information about four novel healthcare technologies (NHTs) in development: a laser-based tool for early diagnosis of osteoarthritis, a virtual reality tool to support diabetes self-management, a non-invasive continuous glucose monitor using microwave signals, a mobile app for patient reported monitoring of rheumatoid arthritis. They were queried on their general familiarity and attitudes to technology, and their willingness to accept each NHT in their future care. Responses were analysed using summary statistics and content analysis. RESULTS: Knowledge about NHTs was diverse, with respondents being more aware about the health applications of mobile apps (66%), followed by laser-based technology (63.8%), microwave signalling (28%), and virtual reality (18.3%). Increasing age and the presence of a self-reported medical condition favoured acceptability for some NHTs, whereas self-reported understanding of how the NHT works resulted in elevated acceptance scores across all NHTs presented. Common contributors to hesitancy were safety and risks from use. Respondents wanted more information and evidence to help inform their decisions, ideally provided verbally by a general practitioner or health professional. Other concerns, such as privacy, were NHT-specific but equally important in decision-making. CONCLUSIONS: Early insight into the knowledge and preconceptions of the public about NHTs in development can assist their design and prospectively mitigate obstacles to acceptance and adoption.

Ultra-low timing jitter, Ti:Al2O3 synchronization for stimulated Raman scattering and pump-probe microscopy.

SIGNIFICANCE: Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and pump-probe microscopy are implementations of multiphoton microscopy that acquire high-resolution, label-free images of live samples encoded with molecular contrast. Most commercial multiphoton microscopes cannot access these techniques since they require sample illumination by two temporally synchronized ultrafast pulse trains. We present a compact and robust way of synchronizing an additional Ti:sapphire laser with a conventional single-beam multiphoton microscope to realize an instrument that can acquire images with enhanced molecular specificity. AIM: A passive optical synchronization scheme for a pair of commercially available, unmodified modelocked Ti:sapphire lasers was developed. The suitability of this synchronization scheme for advanced biomedical microscopy was investigated. APPROACH: A pair of modelocked Ti:sapphire lasers were aligned in master-slave configuration. Five percent of the master laser output was used to seed the modelocking in the slave laser cavity. The timing jitter of the master and slave pulse trains was characterized using an optical autocorrelator. The synchronized output of both lasers was coupled into a laser scanning microscope and used to acquire spectral focusing SRS and pump-probe microscopy images from biological and nonbiological samples. RESULTS: A timing jitter between the modelocked pulse trains of 0.74 fs was recorded. Spectral focusing SRS allowed spectral discrimination of polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate beads. Pump-probe microscopy was used to record excited state lifetime curves from hemoglobin in intact red blood cells. CONCLUSION: Our work demonstrates a simple and robust method of upgrading single-beam multiphoton microscopes with an additional ultrafast laser. The resulting dual-beam instrument can be used to acquire label-free images of sample structure and composition with high biochemical specificity.

Fiber-based platform for synchronous imaging of endogenous and exogenous fluorescence of biological tissue.

Endogenous and exogenous fluorescence emission from biological samples encodes complementary information. Here we report, to the best of our knowledge, the first results from an optical imaging platform with interleaved excitation and detection of exogenous and endogenous fluorescence from tissue samples using a single flexible multimode fiber that delivers the excitation beam and collects the emitted light. A custom-built reflective optical chopper wheel with synchronized rotation temporally multiplexes an autofluorescence lifetime imaging apparatus with an intensity-based fluorescence module tailored to imaging green fluorescent protein. We demonstrate the functionality of such platform imaging dyes of varying fluorescence signatures and resolving cellularized areas on bio-engineered tissue constructs.

In vivo multiphoton microscopy using a handheld scanner with lateral and axial motion compensation.

This paper reports a handheld multiphoton fluorescence microscope designed for clinical imaging that incorporates axial motion compensation and lateral image stabilization. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography is employed to track the axial position of the skin surface, and lateral motion compensation is realised by imaging the speckle pattern arising from the optical coherence tomography beam illuminating the sample. Our system is able to correct lateral sample velocities of up to approximately 65 µm s-1 . Combined with the use of negative curvature microstructured optical fibre to deliver tunable ultrafast radiation to the handheld multiphoton scanner without the need of a dispersion compensation unit, this instrument has potential for a range of clinical applications. The system is used to compensate for both lateral and axial motion of the sample when imaging human skin in vivo.

Tunable fibre-coupled multiphoton microscopy with a negative curvature fibre.

Negative curvature fibre (NCF) guides light in its core by inhibiting the coupling of core and cladding modes. In this work, an NCF was designed and fabricated to transmit ultrashort optical pulses for multiphoton microscopy with low group velocity dispersion (GVD) at 800 nm. Its attenuation was measured to be <0.3 dB m(-1) over the range 600-850 nm and the GVD was -180 ± 70 fs(2)  m(-1) at 800 nm. Using an average fibre output power of ∼20 mW and pulse repetition rate of 80 MHz, the NCF enabled pulses with a duration of <200 fs to be transmitted through a length of 1.5 m of fibre over a tuning range of 180 nm without the need for dispersion compensation. In a 4 m fibre, temporal and spectral pulse widths were maintained to within 10% of low power values up to the maximum fibre output power achievable with the laser system used of 278 mW at 700 nm, 808 mW at 800 nm and 420 mW at 860 nm. When coupled to a multiphoton microscope, it enabled imaging of ex vivo tissue using excitation wavelengths from 740 nm to 860 nm without any need for adjustments to the set-up.

Model-based defect detection on structured surfaces having optically unresolved features.

In this paper, we demonstrate, both numerically and experimentally, a method for the detection of defects on structured surfaces having optically unresolved features. The method makes use of synthetic reference data generated by an observational model that is able to simulate the response of the selected optical inspection system to the ideal structure, thereby providing an ideal measure of deviation from nominal geometry. The method addresses the high dynamic range challenge faced in highly parallel manufacturing by enabling the use of low resolution, wide field of view optical systems for defect detection on surfaces containing small features over large regions.

Fibre-coupled multiphoton microscope with adaptive motion compensation.

To address the challenge of sample motion during in vivo imaging, we present a fibre-coupled multiphoton microscope with active axial motion compensation. The position of the sample surface is measured using optical coherence tomography and fed back to a piezo actuator that adjusts the axial location of the objective to compensate for sample motion. We characterise the system's performance and demonstrate that it can compensate for axial sample velocities up to 700 µm/s. Finally we illustrate the impact of motion compensation when imaging multiphoton excited autofluorescence in ex vivo mouse skin.