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Biomimetic polypropylene-carbon intra-ply hybrid 3d woven composite with enhanced impact resistance (2025)
Journal Article
Weatherburn, A., Montgomery, C., Scott, G., Ralph, C., Girkin, J., McGarrigle, C., McIlhagger, A., Archer, E., & Szyniszewski, S. (2025). Biomimetic polypropylene-carbon intra-ply hybrid 3d woven composite with enhanced impact resistance. Composite Structures, 366, Article 119177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2025.119177

In this study, a nacre-inspired carbon-polypropylene 3D woven composite is developed. The biomimetic ’brick-and-mortar’ design is implemented by interlacing softer polypropylene yarns with brittle carbon fibres. This novel composite was benchmarked a... Read More about Biomimetic polypropylene-carbon intra-ply hybrid 3d woven composite with enhanced impact resistance.

Using spatial frequency domain imaging to monitor a skin biopsy wound: a pilot study (2024)
Journal Article
Zhang, L., Bounds, A., & Girkin, J. (2024). Using spatial frequency domain imaging to monitor a skin biopsy wound: a pilot study. Biomedical Optics Express, 15(10), 5872-5885. https://doi.org/10.1364/BOE.536843

Surgical wound infection is a global postoperative issue adding a significant clinical burden and increasing healthcare costs. Early detection and subsequent diagnosis of infection is vital for accurate, early, and effective treatments. In this paper... Read More about Using spatial frequency domain imaging to monitor a skin biopsy wound: a pilot study.

Monte Carlo simulations and phantom modeling for spatial frequency domain imaging of surgical wound monitoring (2023)
Journal Article
Zhang, L., Bounds, A., & Girkin, J. (2023). Monte Carlo simulations and phantom modeling for spatial frequency domain imaging of surgical wound monitoring. Journal of Biomedical Optics, 28(12), Article 126003. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.jbo.28.12.126003

Postoperative surgical wound infection is a serious problem around the globe, including in countries with advanced healthcare systems, and a method for early detection of infection is urgently required. We explore spatial frequency domain imaging (SF... Read More about Monte Carlo simulations and phantom modeling for spatial frequency domain imaging of surgical wound monitoring.

Bullseye Analysis: A Fluorescence Microscopy Technique to Detect Local Changes in Intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Production (2022)
Journal Article
Hughes, J. G., Chisholm, D. R., Whiting, A., Girkin, J. M., & Ambler, C. A. (2023). Bullseye Analysis: A Fluorescence Microscopy Technique to Detect Local Changes in Intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Production. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 29(2), 529-539. https://doi.org/10.1093/micmic/ozac040

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are naturally produced compounds that play important roles in cell signaling, gene regulation, and biological defense, including involvement in the oxidative burst that is central to the anti-microbial actions of macroph... Read More about Bullseye Analysis: A Fluorescence Microscopy Technique to Detect Local Changes in Intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Production.

Integrated fiber optic spectrally resolved downwelling irradiance sensor for pushbroom spectrometers (2022)
Journal Article
Graham, C., Girkin, J. M., & Bourgenot, C. (2022). Integrated fiber optic spectrally resolved downwelling irradiance sensor for pushbroom spectrometers. Optics Express, 30(25), 45592-45598. https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.477699

We present an integrated fiber optic spectrally resolved downwelling irradiance sensor for pushbroom hyperspectral imagers. The system comprises of a cosine corrector and custom fiber patch cables, collecting the ambient light in a large solid angle... Read More about Integrated fiber optic spectrally resolved downwelling irradiance sensor for pushbroom spectrometers.

Spectral index selection method for remote moisture sensing under challenging illumination conditions (2022)
Journal Article
Graham, C., Girkin, J., & Bourgenot, C. (2022). Spectral index selection method for remote moisture sensing under challenging illumination conditions. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 14555. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18801-9

Remote sensing using passive solar illumination in the Short-Wave Infrared spectrum is exposed to strong intensity variation in the spectral bands due to atmospheric changing conditions and spectral absorption. More robust spectral analysis methods,... Read More about Spectral index selection method for remote moisture sensing under challenging illumination conditions.

Feature issue introduction: applications of adaptive optics (2021)
Journal Article
Christou, J. C., Girkin, J., Kulcsár, C., & Young, L. K. (2021). Feature issue introduction: applications of adaptive optics. Optics Express, 29(8), 11533 - 11537. https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.418282

This feature issue of Optics Express follows the 2020 Imaging and Applied Optics Congress and comprises of articles on the development and use of adaptive optics across the broad range of domains in which the technique has been applied - including at... Read More about Feature issue introduction: applications of adaptive optics.

Full spectrum fluorescence lifetime imaging with 0.5 nm spectral and 50 ps temporal resolution (2021)
Journal Article
Williams, G. O., Williams, E., Finlayson, N., Erdogan, A. T., Wang, Q., Fernandes, S., Akram, A. R., Dhaliwal, K., Henderson, R. K., Girkin, J. M., & Bradley, M. (2021). Full spectrum fluorescence lifetime imaging with 0.5 nm spectral and 50 ps temporal resolution. Nature Communications, 12, Article 6616. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26837-0

The use of optical techniques to interrogate wide ranging samples from semiconductors to biological tissue for rapid analysis and diagnostics has gained wide adoption over the past decades. The desire to collect ever more spatially, spectrally and te... Read More about Full spectrum fluorescence lifetime imaging with 0.5 nm spectral and 50 ps temporal resolution.

Freeform based hYperspectral imager for MOisture Sensing (FYMOS) (2021)
Journal Article
Graham, C., Girkin, J. M., & Bourgenot, C. (2021). Freeform based hYperspectral imager for MOisture Sensing (FYMOS). Optics Express, 29(11), 16007-16018. https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.425660

We present FYMOS, an all-aluminum, robust, light weight, freeform based, near infrared hYperspectral imager for MOisture Sensing. FYMOS was designed and built to remotely measure moisture content using spectral features from 0.7-1.7µm integrating an... Read More about Freeform based hYperspectral imager for MOisture Sensing (FYMOS).

A history of high-power laser research and development in the United Kingdom (2021)
Journal Article
Danson, C. N., White, M., Barr, J. R., Bett, T., Blyth, P., Bowley, D., Brenner, C., Collins, R. J., Croxford, N., Dangor, A. B., Devereux, L., Dyer, P. E., Dymoke-Bradshaw, A., Edwards, C. B., Ewart, P., Ferguson, A. I., Girkin, J. M., Hall, D. R., Hanna, D. C., Harris, W., …Winstone, T. (2021). A history of high-power laser research and development in the United Kingdom. High Power Laser Science and Engineering, 9, Article e18. https://doi.org/10.1017/hpl.2021.5

The first demonstration of laser action in ruby was made in 1960 by T. H. Maiman of Hughes Research Laboratories, USA. Many laboratories worldwide began the search for lasers using different materials, operating at different wavelengths. In the UK, a... Read More about A history of high-power laser research and development in the United Kingdom.

LightBox: a multiwell plate illumination system for photoactive molecule characterization (2021)
Journal Article
Bounds, A., Bailey, R., Adams, C., Callaghan, D., & Girkin, J. (2021). LightBox: a multiwell plate illumination system for photoactive molecule characterization. Journal of Biophotonics, 14(5), Article e202000481. https://doi.org/10.1002/jbio.202000481

Multiwell plates (MWPs) are the workhorses of the life sciences. However, biophotonics research with MWPs is limited, in part due to the lack of equipment suitable for photo‐irradiation of photoactive molecules in a MWP‐suitable, high‐throughput mann... Read More about LightBox: a multiwell plate illumination system for photoactive molecule characterization.

Early stage dental caries detection using near infrared spatial frequency domain imaging (2021)
Journal Article
Bounds, A. D., & Girkin, J. M. (2021). Early stage dental caries detection using near infrared spatial frequency domain imaging. Scientific Reports, 11, Article 2433. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81872-7

Early stage dental caries can be remineralized without the need for “drill-and-fill” treatments that are more invasive and less permanent. However, early stage caries lesions typically present as a white spot on a white background, resulting in many... Read More about Early stage dental caries detection using near infrared spatial frequency domain imaging.

Three-dimensional data capture and analysis of intact eye lenses evidences emmetropia-associated changes and strain-dependent differences in epithelial cell organization (2020)
Journal Article
Kalligeraki, A. A., Isted, A., Pal, R., Saunter, C., Girkin, J., Jarrin, M., Uwineza, A., Obara, B., & Quinlan, R. A. (2020). Three-dimensional data capture and analysis of intact eye lenses evidences emmetropia-associated changes and strain-dependent differences in epithelial cell organization. Scientific Reports, 10, Article 16898. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73625-9

Organ and tissue development are highly coordinated processes; lens growth and functional integration into the eye (emmetropia) is a robust example. An epithelial monolayer covers the anterior hemisphere of the lens, and its organization is the key t... Read More about Three-dimensional data capture and analysis of intact eye lenses evidences emmetropia-associated changes and strain-dependent differences in epithelial cell organization.

Cellular localisation of structurally diverse diphenylacetylene fluorophores (2020)
Journal Article
Chisholm, D. R., Hughes, J. G., Blacker, T. S., Humann, R., Adams, C., Callaghan, D., Pujol, A., Lembicz, N. K., Bain, A. J., Girkin, J. M., Ambler, C. A., & Whiting, A. (2020). Cellular localisation of structurally diverse diphenylacetylene fluorophores. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 18(45), 9231-9245. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ob01153c

Fluorescent probes are increasingly used as reporter molecules in a wide variety of biophysical experiments, but when designing new compounds it can often be difficult to anticipate the effect that changing chemical structure can have on cellular loc... Read More about Cellular localisation of structurally diverse diphenylacetylene fluorophores.

Multi-plane remote refocussing epifluorescence microscopy to image dynamic Ca2+ events (2019)
Journal Article
Lawton, P., Buckley, C., Saunter, C., Wilson, C., Corbett, A., Salter, P., McCarron, J., & Girkin, J. (2019). Multi-plane remote refocussing epifluorescence microscopy to image dynamic Ca2+ events. Biomedical Optics Express, 10(11), 5611-5624. https://doi.org/10.1364/boe.10.005611

Rapid imaging of multiple focal planes without sample movement may be achieved through remote refocusing, where imaging is carried out in a plane conjugate to the sample plane. The technique is ideally suited to studying the endothelial and smooth mu... Read More about Multi-plane remote refocussing epifluorescence microscopy to image dynamic Ca2+ events.

A CMOS SPAD Line Sensor With Per-Pixel Histogramming TDC for Time-Resolved Multispectral Imaging (2019)
Journal Article
Erdogan, A. T., Walker, R., Finlayson, N., Krstajic, N., Williams, G., Girkin, J., & Henderson, R. (2019). A CMOS SPAD Line Sensor With Per-Pixel Histogramming TDC for Time-Resolved Multispectral Imaging. IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, 54(6), 1705-1719. https://doi.org/10.1109/jssc.2019.2894355

A 512 × 16 single photon avalanche diode (SPAD)-based line sensor is designed in a 0.13- μm CMOS image sensor technology for time-resolved multispectral beam scanned imaging. The sensor has 23.78- μm pixel pitch and incorporates one SPAD array with 4... Read More about A CMOS SPAD Line Sensor With Per-Pixel Histogramming TDC for Time-Resolved Multispectral Imaging.

Scattering of spoof surface plasmon polaritons in defect-rich THz waveguides (2019)
Journal Article
Klein, A. K., Basden, A., Hammler, J., Tyas, L., Cooke, M., Balocco, C., Zeze, D., Girkin, J. M., & Gallant, A. (2019). Scattering of spoof surface plasmon polaritons in defect-rich THz waveguides. Scientific Reports, 9(1), Article 6288. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42412-6

We report on the first observation of ‘Spoof’ Surface Plasmon Polariton (SPP) scattering from surface defects on metal-coated 3D printed, corrugated THz waveguiding surfaces. Surface defects, a result of the printing process, are shown to assist the... Read More about Scattering of spoof surface plasmon polaritons in defect-rich THz waveguides.

Photoactivated cell-killing involving a low molecular weight, donor-acceptor diphenylacetylene (2019)
Journal Article
Chisholm, D., Lamb, R., Pallett, T., Affleck, V., Holden, C., Marrison, J., O'Toole, P., Ashton, P., Newling, K., Steffen, A., Nelson, A., Mahler, C., Valentine, R., Blacker, T., Bain, A. J., Girkin, J. M., Marder, T. B., Whiting, A., & Ambler, C. A. (2019). Photoactivated cell-killing involving a low molecular weight, donor-acceptor diphenylacetylene. Chemical Science, 10(17), 4673-4683. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9sc00199a

Photoactivation of photosensitisers can be utilised to elicit the production of ROS, for potential therapeutic applications, including the destruction of diseased tissues and tumours. A novel class of photosensitiser, exemplified by DC324, has been d... Read More about Photoactivated cell-killing involving a low molecular weight, donor-acceptor diphenylacetylene.

VasoTracker, a Low-Cost and Open Source Pressure Myograph System for Vascular Physiology (2019)
Journal Article
Lawton, P. F., Lee, M. D., Saunter, C. D., Girkin, J. M., McCarron, J. G., & Wilson, C. (2019). VasoTracker, a Low-Cost and Open Source Pressure Myograph System for Vascular Physiology. Frontiers in Physiology, 10, Article 99. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2019.00099

Pressure myography, one of the most commonly used techniques in vascular research, measures the diameter of isolated, pressurized arteries to assess the functional activity of smooth muscle and endothelial cells. Despite the widespread adoption of th... Read More about VasoTracker, a Low-Cost and Open Source Pressure Myograph System for Vascular Physiology.