Chance once again became a central figure in the development of a new field. He and collaborators made a critical discovery that spurred the biomedical use of diffuse light. The changes in shape quantitatively revealed the blood-oxygen dynamics of the animal, and soon thereafter, the human brain. Since this experiment, the field of photon migration and optical imaging and spectroscopy has grown dramatically. Research on the breast, the brain, and muscles using diffuse light is an intense worldwide activity.
Chance continues to be active in the field.
Arjun Yodh is the James M. Skinner Professor of Science at the David Rittenhouse Lab, University of Pennsylvania. He holds appointments in the departments of physics and astronomy, as well as radiation oncology. Bruce Tromberg is the director of the Laser Microbeam and Medical Program, an NIH Biomedical Technology Research Center, at the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic and an associate professor in the College of Medicine and School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. This tribute to Britton Chance was originally published in SPIE's Journal of Biomedical Optics, volume 5, number 2, a special issue focused on optical spectroscopy and imaging of deep tissues, in honor of Professor Britton Chance. In preparation for writing this piece, we were poring over the work Chance has done when a remark from a letter caught our attention.