The talk will describe the emerging technology of Molecular Alveoscopy that is being developed at the University of Edinburgh to provide immediate bedside sensing and imaging of the distal alveoli in humans. The Proteus Project ( www.proteus.ac.uk) is the UK’s largest biophotonics project and is focussed on developing disruptive technologies for pulmonary imaging to develop in vivo in situ optical molecular pathology approaches . The technology is being developed to measure inflammation, bacterial presence and physiological parameters such as tissue oxygen, pH, redox in the alveolar space alongside sampling distal airway fluids. The goal is to develop alveolar telemetry which will be of widespread utility especially in critical care but also in experimental medicine.