Quantitative Optical Spectroscopy and Imaging: Noninvasive Tools for Cancer Research
Dr. Bing Yu, Biomedical Engineering
ASEC 377 on Friday, April 22, from 12-1 pm
During cancer development, progression and therapy, tissues undergo enormous changes in their physiological and morphological properties, including angiogenesis, hypoxia, alterations in cell nuclear size and density, and denaturation. The ability to measure these biomarkers noninvasively has great clinical values in early detection of cancer and treatment evaluation. Quantitative optical spectroscopy and imaging are noninvasive techniques that are highly sensitive to the biochemical alterations in tissue compositions through the interaction between photons and endogenous molecules in tissues. In this seminar I will present three optical spectroscopy and imaging tools being developed in the Biophotonics Laboratory in the Department of Biomedical Engineering for cancer detection and therapeutic monitoring. The first technique, called VIS-DRS, acquires diffuse reflectance spectra in the visible band and employs a Monte Carlo inverse model to extract the tissue contents and scattering properties. The VIS-DRS are employed for oral and cervical cancer detection, monitoring of thermal ablation of solid tumors and intraoperative imaging of breast tumor margins during breast conserving surgery. The second technique, called FD-NIRS, detects intensity-modulated diffuse reflectance in the near-infrared region, through a side-firing fiber optic sensor. The FD-NIRS is an ideal in vivo tool for longitudinal monitoring of tumor hypoxia and its response to chemo- and radiotherapy. The third tool is a microendoscope system, named SmartME, which integrates VIS-DRS and high resolution fluorescence imaging into a smartphone platform. The SmatME creates an affordable, easy-to-use and globally-connected solution for oral and cervical cancer screening in low-resource settings.
Biography
Dr. Bing Yu is an assistant professor in Biomedical Engineering at The University of Akron since 2012. His prior experiences include seven years in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University, as a postdoc, senior research scientist and research assistant professor, as well as various academic and industrial positions in China and Singapore. Dr. Yu has cofounded Zenalux Biomedical, Inc., a biomedical device company in North Carolina. Dr. Yu has developed a number of noninvasive or minimally invasive optical techniques for cancer diagnosis and treatment evaluation. His research has attracted multi-million dollar funding from the National Institute of Health and National Science Foundation. Dr. Yu received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2005. He has published over 50 technical papers or conference abstracts. He is also the inventor of 10 US/international patents or patent applications. His current research interests include endoscopic imaging, optical spectroscopy, spectral imaging, cancer detection and treatment monitoring, miniature and cost-effective optical devices for global health, and fiber-optic sensors and instrumentation. Dr. Yu is a member of OSA, SPIE and ASLMS.