academics
Research Projects and Laboratories
4. Optical sensors and imaging devices (Prof R. Rox Anderson, MD, WCP Director; Assistant Prof Walfre Franco, PhD)
Goal: to develop portable and/or wearable, optical sensors and imaging devices for monitoring physiologic data.
Project 1: Development of mobile phone-based imaging platform for evaluating the spatial and temporal features of cutaneous lesions. In this project, students will help to develop computer vision algorithms and optical methods for quantifying and analyzing variations in the optical environment of cutaneous tissues using a mobile phone camera platform. Additionally, the students will learn how to leverage optical hardware to probe tissues and improve image quality and resolution while minimizing motion and lighting artifacts. The hardware and software developed in this project will create simple-to-use low-cost technologies for diagnosis and evaluation of treatment response of common dermatologic lesions.
Project 2: Development of a wearable mobile optical sensor for tracking spectroscopic changes in tissue. LEDs and optical sensors can be integrated into wearable patches for longitudinal measurement of tissue optical properties. In this project, students will learn about electronic circuit design, spectroscopy, wearable devices, and will help to develop non-invasive probes for tracking changes in tissue, for example, sub-millimeter dynamics of cutaneous lesions or oxygenation states. These sensors may ultimately be deployed in wound care settings and, in collaboration with biologist, free-diving seals.
The goal of this project is to develop a low-cost, multi-functional blood coagulation sensor that can measure a patient’s coagulation status within 5 minutes using a drop of blood. This device addresses the critical unmet need to identify and manage patients with an elevated risk of life-threatening bleeding or thrombosis, the major cause of in-hospital preventable death. In addition, this innovation will enable rapid coagulation testing in the doctor’s office or at home for over 15 million patients worldwide who routinely receive oral anticoagulants to prevent venous and arterial thrombosis, the world’s number one killer.
Project 2: Laser Speckle Microrheology to evaluate the mechanical hallmarks of tumor malignancy
There is growing recognition that the stiffness of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a powerful regulator of cell response, and the differentiation, proliferation and malignant transformation of tumor cells can be modulated by tuning ECM mechanical properties. These insights indicate that cancer is mediated by a dialogue between ECM mechanical cues and oncogenic signaling, and therefore knowledge of ECM mechanics is important for advancing current understanding of tumorigenesis and for developing new therapeutic paradigms. In this project we will develop hybrid imaging approaches that combine confocal microscopy and microrheology techniques to investigate the structural and mechanical hallmarks of tumor malignancy.
Diagnosis of esophageal diseases is often hampered by sampling errors associated with the standard endoscopic biopsy. The Tearney lab has developed an innovative optical microscopy technology, spectrally encoded confocal microscopy (SECM) that obtains confocal images 2-3 orders of magnitude faster than conventional raster scanning devices. From several clinical studies imaging human patients in vivo, the SECM endoscopic capsule devices have been shown to successfully visualize cellular features from the entire esophagus. There are several research opportunities for REU students, including 1) designing and testing of a motor-scanning SECM capsule prototype, 2) development of ultra miniature imaging probes for other applications inside the body, and 3) creation of automated tissue classification algorithms.
Project 2: Smart Tethered Capsule Endomicroscopy.
The current standard diagnostic tool for upper gastrointestinal tract disorders, endoscopic biopsy, has many limitations as it is invasive, costly, and suffers tissue sampling error. In order to overcome these limitations of endoscopy, the Tearney lab has developed a new imaging concept termed tethered capsule endomicroscopy (TCE), which involves swallowing a tethered capsule that acquires three-dimensional microscopic images of the entire gastrointestinal tract as it traverses the luminal organ via peristalsis or is pulled up towards the mouth using the tether. Applications span all of upper endoscopy including cancer and inflammatory diseases of the esophagus, stomach, and small intestine. TCE research topics for REU students include: 1) design and validation of prototype capsules with integrated sensing capabilities; 2) the development of multimodality capsules that implement structural and chemical/molecular imaging, and 3) programming machine learning algorithms for real-time TCE diagnosis of a variety of gastrointestinal tract conditions.
Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) provides multi-dimensional signals that describe the interaction of light polarization with a tissue sample. These signals can be used to provide unique insight into underlying tissue organization and health. However, the analysis of these signals is complex and features are often subtle. In this project, students will work with existing PS-OCT datasets to evaluate and optimize processing and quantification algorithms. Students will be mentored by senior group members but will work independently to gain experience applying mathematical frameworks to biomedical imaging datasets.
The Yun lab makes pioneering efforts in the field of biomaterial-based photonic devices, such as light-guiding hydrogels and biocompatible waveguides, to create implanted optical devices for health monitoring and therapies. Students working on this topic will design, fabricate, and characterize novel polymer-based or hydrogel-based waveguides, and they will acquire knowledge on waveguide optics, biomaterials, nanofabrication, and their applications.
Project 2: Wearable optical sensors.
Light emitting diodes and optical sensors can be integrated into flexible substrates for wearable patches for longitudinal measurement of tissue optical properties for tracking spectroscopic changes in tissue. In the Franco lab in collaboration with Yun lab, students will learn about electronic circuit design, spectroscopy and wearable devices, and help to develop non-invasive probes for tracking changes in tissue, sub-millimeter dynamics of cutaneous lesions or oxygenation states. These sensors may ultimately be deployed in wound care settings and, in collaboration with biologists, free-diving seals.
Project 3: Biological cell lasers.
The Yun lab is pioneering the field of bio-lasers. The group has demonstrated fluorescent-protein lasers, cell-dye lasers, all-biomaterial laser, and intracellular micro-lasers. These works, which are supported by NSF grants, have received considerable public exposure through numerous news media and awards. These new lasers have potential for imaging, biological sensing, and cell tracking. Students will learn how to generate and detect laser light from micro-cavities, how cells uptake micro lasers, how the intracellular environment affects the output characteristics of the lasers, and the novel applications of cell lasers.
Project 4: Brillouin optical microscopy for cell biomechanics.
The Yun lab has previously developed high-resolution Brillouin light scattering microscopy for studying cell biomechanics. By measuring the optical frequency shift of the scattered light, Brillouin measurements probe the local spontaneous pressure waves in the intracellular environments, from which one can determine high frequency longitudinal modulus that is related to the modulus of individual cytoskeletal components, network crosslinking, compressibility of the local microenvironment, and solid-liquid volume fraction. In this project, REU students have the opportunity to participate in new instrumentation and use a state-of-the-art setup to measure the stiffness of the extracellular and intracellular matrices and study their interplay in stem cell differentiation, in synergy with an ongoing NSF-funded research.