Research

 The primary goal of our research is to design, develop and translate the next-generation of optical spectroscopic and imaging system for non-invasive, point-of-care assessment of living biological tissues. Specifically, we are engineering miniaturized, wearable, fiber-less, low-cost light-based sensing platforms coupled with computational tools for continuous monitoring of local tissue health. This technical platform promises a paradigm shift of current health monitoring towards enabling remote healthcare and precision medicine.  

Current Projects 

Optical assessment of cerebral blood flow and oxygen extraction in pediatric sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder that has profound effects on the brain. The risk of stroke in children with SCD is 250 times greater than the general population. ~2% of patients will experience an overt stroke by age 10 and ~40% will have silent infarcts by age 15. Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound (TCD) is the current standard screening tool for overt stroke risk in SCD children. However, TCD velocities are poor predictors of silent infarcts and have a low positive predictive value. Thus, supplementary tools to TCD are needed for improved screening and for optimization of therapeutic strategies. Diffuse optical spectroscopies (namely frequency domain near-infrared spectroscopy combined with diffuse correlation spectroscopy, FDNIRS/DCS) may provide a user-friendly, cost-effective solution to this unmet need. We’ve demonstrated that FDNIRS/DCS can detect expected trends in cerebral oxygen extraction (OEF) and blood flow (CBF) in SCD patients, i.e., these parameters are elevated compared to controls and inversely correlated with hematocrit [1]. Also, We’ve shown that FDNIRS/DCS are sensitive to changes in CBF and OEF post transfusion that is a standard intervention to reduce the risk of primary and recurrent strokes [2]


Optical assessment of microvascular oxygen metabolism in muscles  

Sarcopenia, the age-related reduction in skeletal muscle function, significantly impacts mobility, quality of life, and mortality in older people. In daily activities, the energy for skeletal muscle function mostly comes from oxidative metabolism. Adequate oxygen delivery to skeletal muscle via intact blood flow (i.e. oxygen delivery) is critical to meeting the metabolic demand during daily activities and exercise. At the microvascular level, blood flow, oxygen extraction by skeletal muscle, and metabolism are known to be impaired with advancing age. However, to date, these parameters have not been monitored simultaneously during dynamic exercise in humans due to insufficient technology for in vivo use. Our long-term goal is to develop a noninvasive wearable sensor that can simultaneously quantify the microvascular muscle perfusion and oxygen metabolism during dynamic exercise or daily activities 

Noninvasive, label-free intraoperative tool for monitoring viability of parathyroid glands 

Postoperative hypocalcemia (low calcium levels in the blood plasma) is a major hypoparathyroidism complication after thyroidectomy. In the US, approximately 20 million people are diagnosed with thyroid diseases annually and 150,000 thyroidectomies are performed. Reportedly, around 27% of these patients suffer from transient or permanent hypocalcemia, which can lead to lifelong deleterious consequences with serious economic burden. Direct damage or accidental removal and devascularization of the parathyroid glands (PTGs) during surgery is one of the main causes of these adverse outcomes.  there is an unmet clinical need for a non-invasive, label-free intraoperative tool that is capable of rapid and quantitative PTG viability assessment in thyroid surgery. Our long-term goal is to develop and translate a portable, probe-based device that can be used by surgeons to rapidly determine the viability of each PTG. 


Prior Projects 

Optical biopsy for improved detection of pancreatic cancer 

Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer death in the US, with a 6% five-year survival rate. This grim prognosis is in part due to lack of accurate and reliable methods to detect pancreatic cancer and pre-cancer. The current standard, i.e., endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA), not only requires the presence of an on-site cytologist to evaluate the smeared sample but, more importantly, it is not sensitive in the setting of inflammatory tissues (as are often seen in pancreatic cancer). The goal of this research was to demonstrate the feasibility of diffuse reflectance and fluorescence spectroscopy in distinguishing malignant pancreatic tissues (Adenocarcinoma) from benign tissues (Normal and Pancreatitis). 

 

Research Collaborators

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Grants and Awards