Femtosecond laser application in biotechnology and medicine

Near-infrared (NIR) 80 MHz nanojoule femtosecond laser pulses of low sub-nanojoule and nJ pulse energies in combination with focusing optics of high numerical aperture can be used as versatile multiphoton tools in nanobiotechnology and nano/micro-medicine. Novel diagnostic applications include gene imaging by multiphoton multicolor FISH (MM-FISH) and high-resolution multiphoton tomography of skin as well as tissue engineered cardiovascular structures based on two-photon autofluorescence excitation and second harmonic generation (SHG) of endogenous biomolecules. Using high-intense (10(11) - 10(12) W/cm(2)) 80 MHz femtosecond laser beams, non-invasive targeted transfection of mammalian cells with DNA can be realized by creation of highly localised membrane perforations. Nanosurgery can be performed by optical knocking out of intracellular and intratissue structures. Potential applications include gene and cancer therapy, eye and brain surgery as well as optical engineering of single DNA molecules as key elements in bionanotechnology.