Two-Dimensional Imaging and Spatiotemporal Analysis of Biophoton

4. Conclusion

In this chapter, our studies focused on techniques and instrumentation for highly sensitive and precise determination of biophotons through imaging and their applications, investigated from various viewpoints, are discussed. Applications based on these techniques are introduced over a range of subjects, from the level of microbes to that of humans. Although the detailed mechanisms of biophoton emission in each case have not yet been clarified sufficiently, the experimental results introduced here show a high potential for analyzing biophotons for the quantification of physiological and pathological information. The most valuable merit of analyzing biophotons is that it is apparently a non-invasive technique, and it cannot be influenced in the same way as other methods that use extrinsic physical probes. However, the weakness of the intensity of biophoton, which may restrict its application, requires a breakthrough in analytical technique. In that sense, I believe that our technologies for the physical analysis of biophotons could form the basis for a novel stage in biophoton research. In particular, the statistical characterization of biophotons with spatiotemporal determination will provide a novel approach by which biological order emerged with the interaction of biological reactions can be characterized, even when the photon density is very low.