Improving healthcare with light and sound
13:30 – 13:35
Welcome
Dr. Wenfeng Xia, King’s College London, UK
13:35 – 14:20
Keynote talk
Integrated probes for combined photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging: history and the current status
Prof. Wiendelt Steenbergen, University of Twente, Netherlands
14:20 – 14:40
Invited talk
High resolution Fabry-Perot scanner for photoacoustic and optical ultrasound imaging
Dr. Nam Trung Huynh, University College London, UK
14:40 – 15:00
Invited talk
Nanocomposite materials for all-optical ultrasound imaging
Dr. Sacha Noimark, University College London, UK
15:00 – 15:20
Invited talk
Technical validation of photoacoustic imaging systems using phantoms
Dr. James Joseph, University of Dundee, UK
15:20 – 15:30
Break
15:30 – 15:50
Invited talk
Enhancing photoacoustic imaging with optical wavefront shaping
Dr. James Guggenheim, University of Birmingham, UK
15:50 – 16:10
Invited talk
Preclinical photoacoustic imaging of tumor stroma and liver fibrosis
Dr. Francis Kalloor Joseph, University of Twente, Netherlands
16:10 – 16:30
Invited talk
Noise reduction in photoacoustic imaging with low-energy light sources
Ms. Mengjie Shi, King's College London, UK
16:30 – 16:50
Invited talk
Ultrathin photoacoustic endomicroscopy probe for guiding minimally invasive surgery
Dr. Tianrui Zhao, King’s College London, UK
16:50 – 17:10
Invited talk
Enhanced photoacoustic visualisation of medical needles using candle soot composites
Mr. Semyon Bodian, University College London, UK
17:10 – 17:30
Panel discussion
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
WENFENG XIA
Dr. Wenfeng Xia is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King's College London. He is also the School International Lead. He received a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, and a MSc in Medical Physics from University of Heidelberg, Germany, in 2005 and 2007, respectively. In 2013, he obtained his Ph.D from University of Twente, Netherlands. From 2014 to 2018, he was a Research Associate / Senior Research Associate in the Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering at University College London, UK.
He founded the Photons+ Ultrasound Research Laboratory (PURL) at King's College London in 2018, which brings together talented scientists who are committed to transform the ways that surgical and interventional procedures are performed via ground-breaking technological innovations. They are fascinated by how light and sound interact with biological tissue, and how they can be used for patient benefit. In particular, research at PURL is centered on the technological advancements and clinical translation of photoacoustics (also called optoacoustics), an emerging imaging and sensing technique that is based on light generated ultrasound.
WIENDELT STEENBERGEN
Wiendelt Steenbergen is professor in Biomedical Photonic Imaging in the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Twente, and Vice-dean Research in the same faculty. He obtained an MSc degree in Aerospace Engineering at the Delft University of Technology (1988), a PhD degree in fluid dynamics at the Eindhoven University of Technology (1995) and joined the University of Twente, Enschede (the Netherlands) as postdoc. In 2000 he was appointed assistant professor in biomedical optics and broadened his scope to low-coherence interferometry and photoacoustic and acousto-optic imaging for biomedical purposes. In 2010 he became full professor and group leader of the Biomedical Photonic Imaging group of the University of Twente. His current research interests are speckle based tissue perfusion imaging, combined photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging, tissue perfusion imaging using infrared radiation, and quantification of photoacoustic imaging using acousto-optics. His current medical interest areas are the diabetic foot, transplant surgery and dermatology.
NAM TRUNG HUYNH
Nam Huynh is a senior research fellow in the Photoacoustic imaging group at the Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London. His research interests lie primarily in the area of instrumentations for novel imaging techniques using optics and ultrasound. He has been involved in developing high speed high resolution Fabry-Pérot clinical scanner and using the system to conduct patient studies over the last 7 years.
SACHA NOIMARK
Dr Sacha Noimark received her M.Sci. degree in Chemistry with Mathematics from University College London (UCL) in 2010. Following, she received M.Res. and Eng.D. degrees in Molecular Modelling and Material Science (UCL). Her Doctoral research was focused on the development of light-activated antimicrobial polymers for healthcare applications. Dr Noimark joined the UCL Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering in 2014 as a postdoctoral researcher, after which she was awarded a Ramsay Memorial Fellowship (2016). Currently an EPSRC UKRI Innovation Fellow, her research interests are centred on the development of novel elastomeric nanocomposites to create new all-optical imaging and sensing technologies to guide minimally invasive surgeries. One of her key foci is the development of highly miniaturised optical ultrasound transducers, that can be fabricated by creating and applying specially engineered nanocomposites onto optical fibres. The optical properties of the nanocomposite coatings can be carefully tuned to strongly absorb visible light within specific wavelength regions for example, for optical ultrasound generation, and demonstrate transparency to light of other wavelengths, enabling combined imaging, sensing and therapeutics. These next-generation imaging and sensing technologies have applications in medical specialties ranging from gastroenterology to cardiology, opening up new avenues for clinical interventions.
JAMES JOSEPH
James Joseph obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering from the University of Nottingham in 2006. He obtained his Masters degree in 2007 and PhD degree in Biomedical Imaging from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, in 2013. Further, he carried out his postdoctoral research for six years at Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and at the Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, under the mentorship of Prof. Sarah Bohndiek. Since July 2020, he has been working as a Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Dundee. His research is focused on translational optical and multimodal imaging technologies. He also leads and directs the phantom development theme for International Photoacoustic Standardisation Consortium (IPASC).
JAMES GUGGENHEIM
Jamie Guggenheim is a Birmingham Fellow and Proleptic Lecturer at the University of Birmingham (UoB), and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering at University College London (UCL). At UoB, Jamie works jointly in the Medical School and College of Engineering. His current research group carries out a range of projects in photoacoustic imaging, optical wavefront shaping, and related areas. Jamie holds a prestigious 5-year Royal Society University Research Fellowship. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems Engineering, and a PhD in Biomedical Optical Imaging from UoB. From 2013-2018, Jamie was a Research Associate in Photoacoustic Imaging Instrumentation in Professor Paul Beard’s Photoacoustic Imaging Group at UCL. Jamie has authored 17 peer reviewed journal papers.
FRANCIS KALLOOR JOSEPH
Dr. Francis Kalloor Joseph is an Assistant Professor at the University of Twente, Netherlands. He received his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India in 2018. He was a Fulbright fellow at the University of Rochester Medical Center, USA. He also received the prestigious Dutch research grant VENI. He has eight years of research experience in photoacoustic imaging. His research interest includes clinical imaging of carotid plaque for effective care in stroke patients, tumor margin detection to improve surgical outcomes, and preclinical imaging.
MENGJIE SHI
Mengjie Shi is a PhD student in the Photons+ Ultrasound Research Laboratory (PURL), School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s College London, UK. She completed her bachelor's degree in Optoelectricity Information of Science and Technology at Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China in 2019 and master’s degree in Communications and Signal Processing at Imperial College London in 2020. Her research interests focus on improving photoacoustic imaging with affordable light sources for guiding minimally invasive procedures.
TIANRUI ZHAO
Dr. Tianrui Zhao is a Research Associate in the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s College London, UK. He received his B.Eng in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern Polytechnical University, China, and M.Sc. degree in Materials for Energy and Environment from University College London, UK, in 2015 and 2016, respectively. He obtained his PhD degree from the Photons+ Ultrasound Research Laboratory (PURL) at King's College London in 2022. His research interests include developing minimally invasive imaging devices based on photoacoustic imaging.
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SEMYON BODIAN
Semyon Bodian is a fourth-year PhD student based in the Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering at UCL. He belongs to the Interventional Devices Group under the supervision of Pr. Adrien Desjardins and Dr Sacha Noimark. Before beginning his PhD, he received an integrated master’s degree in chemistry from UCL in 2017. His research project focuses on developing nanocomposites for use in optical ultrasound generation which can be used to provide ultrasound image guidance for minimally invasive surgical interventions. Semyon’s work includes fabricating both broadband optically absorbing and wavelength-selective composites for both single and multimodality imaging, respectively.