Seminar 18.12.14

  Physical Electronics Dept.

You are invited to attend a lecture

By

Ofer Levi

Associate Professor, The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and The Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, The University of Toronto ofer.levi@utoronto.ca

On the subject:

Portable optical sensors and imaging systems for biomedical applications

Optical techniques are widely used in clinical settings and in biomedical research to interrogate bio-molecular interactions and to evaluate tissue dynamics. Miniature integrated optical systems for sensing and imaging can be portable, enabling long-term studies in living tissues.

We present the development of a compact multi-modality optical neural imaging system, to image tissue blood flow velocity and oxygenation, using a fast CCD camera and miniature VCSEL illumination. We combined two techniques of laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) and intrinsic optical signal imaging (IOSI) simultaneously, using these compact laser sources, to monitor induced cortical ischemia in a full field format with high temporal acquisition rates. We have demonstrated tracking seizure activity, evaluating blood-brain barrier breaching, and integrating fast spatial light modulators for extended imaging depth and auto-focusing during brain imaging of flow dynamics. Our current studies include prototype designs and system optimization and evaluation for a low-cost portable imaging system as a minimally invasive method for long-term neurological studies in un-anesthetized animals. This system will provide a better understanding of the progression and treatment efficacy of various neurological disorders, in freely behaving animals. Finally, we will review our progress in optical nano-structure sensor fabrication and optimization for bio-sensing of molecular interactions.

Biography

Dr. Ofer Levi is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering and the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto. Dr. Levi received his Ph.D. in Physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel in 2000, and worked in 2000-2007 as a Postdoctoral Fellow and as a Research Associate at the Departments of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, CA.  He serves as an Associate Editor in Biomedical Optics Express (OSA) and is a member of OSA, IEEE-Photonics, and SPIE.  His recent research areas include biomedical imaging systems and optical bio-sensors based on semiconductor devices and nano-structures, and their application to bio-medical diagnostics, in vivo imaging, and study of bio-molecular interactions.  More details can be found at http://biophotonics.utoronto.ca/

Thursday, December 18, 2014 at 15:00, Room 011, Kitot Eng. bldg.