Faculty Candidate
Translational Optical Imaging and Biomechanics for In Situ Clinical Diagnostics
Xu Feng, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts General Hospital
Friday, January 5, 2024
Gateway 1002
12:00pm – 12:50pm
Abstract: Optical imaging in the context of diagnostic medical imaging has revolutionized how we understand, detect, and treat diseases over the past decades. By leveraging imaging contrasts ranging from the scattering or absorption properties, autofluorescence, and molecular vibrations, optical imaging has become a powerful tool for investigating biological systems across diverse length and time scales. Among optical imaging techniques, Optical Coherence Elastography (OCE) has emerged as an attractive method for quantifying tissue mechanical properties in their natural context. Despite its potential, the clinical translation of OCE is still in its early stages, hindered by technological barriers, the absence of suitable mechanical models, and uncertainties regarding the biophysical origins of the mechanical measurements.
In this presentation, I will outline my endeavors to overcome these challenges and advance OCE techniques for in situ clinical diagnosis. I will start with the broad impact of biomedical optical imaging, and then delve into the strengths and challenges of OCE. Then, I will introduce an ultra-wideband OCE technique I recently developed that spans from kHz (acoustic) to MHz (ultrasonic) ranges. This work not only notably enhances elastography resolution but also facilitates multiscale biomechanical analysis bridging the gap between cellular and tissue levels. Next, I will discuss my contributions in developing OCE as a clinical diagnostic tool, focusing on its applications in detecting in vivo human corneal and skin biomechanics. Finally, I will touch upon my previous work in Raman spectroscopy and its potential in unveiling the biophysical origins of mechanical contrast. My research opens exciting avenues for advancing the multi-contrast optical imaging in translational medicine.
Biography: Xu Feng is a postdoctoral research fellow at Wellman Center for Photomedicine, a collaborative hub of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Optics from Wuhan University and master’s degree in Optical Engineering from Tsinghua University, respectively. She completed her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 2019 under the mentorship of Prof. James Tunnell. Her doctoral research focused on developing low-infrastructure Raman spectroscopy for in vivo skin cancer screening and intraoperative guidance of skin tumor resection. As a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Andy Yun’s lab, she continued her dedication to translational optical imaging. Her current work involves developing novel optical coherence elastography techniques to explore the biomechanics of in situ human tissues. Her goal is to combine multi-contrast optical imaging to understand the mechanisms of human disease and develop new diagnostic devices to bridge the gap between laboratory research and clinical applications.
For a zoom link please contact June Norton at jnorton@wpi.edu or Kate Harrison at kharrison@wpi.edu