BME Colloquium Series: Regine Choe, Ph.D.
Detection and Therapy Monitoring of Brain and Breast Disease using Diffuse Optics
Faculty Candidate
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
Abstract
Diffuse optical techniques have a great potential for detection and therapy monitoring of disease, since they provide simultaneous physiological measurements of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin, water, and lipid concentrations, tissue scattering, and blood flow.
Furthermore, the use of non-ionizing radiation and technologically simple, fast, inexpensive instrumentation makes diffuse optics attractive for translational research. Using stroke and breast cancer as example cases, this presentation will show the capabilities of diffuse optical techniques:
- to distinguish diseased and normal states,
- to track changes induced by therapies, and
- to image fluorescent contrast agents in humans.
Finally, the future research directions will be discussed to explore different therapies such as molecularly targeted therapies, organs/diseases, and new parameters using novel imaging agents.