PRI Research Seminar Series on 15 March 2024 (Friday) - Deep-tissue optics: motivation, progress, challenges, and perspectives

_^Topic

Deep-tissue optics: motivation, progress, challenges, and perspectives

_^Abstract

The usage of light has considerably reshaped the landscape of biomedicine in the past decades from imaging, sensing, treatment, stimulation, to control. The applications, however, are limited to superficial layers beneath sample surface or compromised resolution at depths due to the inherent nature of strong optical scattering in tissue. Many approaches have been proposed to tackle this challenge, such as switching to longer wavelengths to have lower tissue scattering coefficients, converting diffused light into not-so-scattered sound at the signal detection side, etc. In this talk, we will focus on wavefront shaping, a strategy of suppressing scattering by pre-compensating for the scattering-induced phase distortions, and computational methods to extract information from seemingly random optical speckles that arise from scattering media. We will present the basics of working principles and our continuing endeavors in these directions. Challenges and roadmaps towards deep-tissue applications will also be discussed.

_^Biography

Dr Puxiang Lai received his Bachelor from Tsinghua University in 2002, Master from Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005, and PhD from Boston University in 2011. In September 2015, he joined Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University as a Tenure-track Assistant Professor and was promoted to Tenured Associate Professor in July 2021. Dr Lai’s research interests focus on deep-tissue optics and its applications in biomedicine. Current research projects include, but are not limited to, wavefront shaping, photoacoustic imaging, fiber imaging, computational optics, and artificial intelligence, which have fueled more than 90 publications in premium journals like Nature Photonics, Nature Communications, The Innovation, Light: Science & Applications, PhotoniX, Advanced Photonics, and Advanced Science. Currently, Dr. Lai serves as Associate Editor or Editor for a few journals in the field, such as Journal of Visual Computing for Industry, Biomedicine, and Art, Journal of Innovative Optics in Health and Science, Advanced Photonics Nexus, and The Innovation.