MIT scientists create sensor that detects light deep inside the brain - Brain Tomorrow

A high-tech scanner that detects light deep inside the brain has been developed. It could boost cancer treatments and AI (artificial intelligence) and even lead to a screening program for Alzheimer's disease. The optical approach uses MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to map how light spreads in opaque environments capturing dynamic changes in colors of tissue. It could map neuron-stimulating fibers during experiments or monitor patients receiving light-based therapies for tumors. "We can image the distribution of light in tissue, and that's important because people who use light to stimulate tissue or to measure from tissue often don't quite know where the light is going, where they're stimulating, or where the light is coming from. Our tool can be used to address those unknowns," says senior author Alan Jasanoff, a professor of biological engineering, brain and cognitive sciences, as well as nuclear science and engineering, at MIT, in a statement.