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Detection of Photon Emission from Biological Systems

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Integrative Biophysics
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Abstract

Since photon emission from living organisms is extremely weak (the photon flux is the order of less than 10−15 W) in comparison with a normal light source, some very sensitive methods and devices have been established to detect biophotons both in integral emission intensity and the two-dimensional pattern of the emission on living organisms. This chapter will discuss the modern technology and systems used by various research groups to perform the detection, spectral analysis and two-dimensional imaging of ultraweak photon emission from living organisms such as cells, tissues and even organs. In addition, photon emission from biological system has some intrinsic features, such as coherence, differing with that from non-living systems. Thus, some particular methods are needed to characterize the physical and biological features of photon emission from biological systems.

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Shen, X. (2003). Detection of Photon Emission from Biological Systems. In: Popp, FA., Beloussov, L. (eds) Integrative Biophysics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0373-4_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0373-4_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6228-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-0373-4

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