PRI Research Seminar Series on 10 December 2024 (Tuesday): Deep learning approaches to advancing biomedical optical imaging techniques

_^Topic

Deep learning approaches to advancing biomedical optical imaging techniques

_^Abstract

Optical imaging techniques have been widely applied to the visualisation of biological structures and processes across large temporal and spatial scales. Biomedical optical imaging systems are designed to meet the requirements of specific applications. However, their imaging performance is usually limited by various practical constraints such as noninvasiveness and image acquisition time. Artificial intelligence has emerged as one of the most transformative and influential technologies of our time. In the engineering fields, it provides revolutionary approaches to solve very challenging mathematical problems. For example, the inverse problem in diffuse optical tomography is ill-posed due to strong light scattering in soft biological tissues. We have developed a deep learning based image reconstruction algorithm, which demonstrated a remarkable image quality improvement. Deep learning neural networks have also been utilised to enhance the axial resolution for fast fluorescence microscopy and to identify optical biomarkers for objective diagnosis of major depressive disorders.

_^Biography

Prof. CHEN Nanguang is currently an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering in 2000 from the Tsinghua University. He also received his MSc in Physics and BSc in Electrical Engineering in 1994 (Peking University), and 1988 (Hunan University), respectively. He joined the Optical and Ultrasound Imaging Lab at the University of Connecticut in 2000 as a postdoctoral fellow and then became an Assistant Research Professor in 2002. Since 2004, he has been a faculty member with NUS. His research focuses on novel optical imaging methods for biomedical applications, such diffuse optical tomography for cancer detection and brain imaging, focal modulation microscopy for deep tissue imaging in small animal models, and laser speckle imaging for quantitative flow imaging in microvasculature. He has co-authored more than 200 technical papers and hold 5 international patents.