Early diagnosis is critically important for effective therapy. Studies have conclusively shown that the earlier a disease is diagnosed, the greater the patient’s chance of recovery. Current diagnostic techniques for many diseases, however, are often invasive and inefficient. Certain types of cancer, like esophageal cancer, are diagnosed through repetitive random biopsies. Other diseases leave markers that are not feasible to access surgically, like the vulnerable plaque that can indicate heart disease.

CIMIT’s Optical Diagnostics Program seeks to make diagnosis efficient, effective, and non-invasive. Projects like Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and Optical Frequency Domain Imaging (OFDI) make it possible to identify precancerous lesions or arterial plaque at very early stages.

• Projects
• Publications
• Forum/Events
• In The News
• Multimedia

FY 2011 - 2008 Optical Diagnostics Projects
YEAR	PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR	INSTITUTION	PROJECT TITLE
2011	Balachundhar Subramaniam	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	Echocardiography guided central oximetry-198
2010	Irving Bigio, PhD	Boston University	Validation of colon cancer screening by optical sensing of field effect in rectal mucosa
2010	Benjamin Vakoc, PhD	Massachusetts General Hospital	An image-guided laser therapy catheter for Barrett's esophagus
2010	Seok Yun, PhD	Massachusetts General Hospital	Dynamic cross sectional and functional imaging of vocal folds (4D laryngoscopy)
2009	Charles Lin, PhD	Massachusetts General Hospital	Label-free detection and quantification of circulating leukocytes by in vivo flow cytometry
2009	Dieter Manstein, MD	Massachusetts General Hospital	Non-invasive measurement of intraepidermal nerve density
2009	Seok Hyun Yun, PhD	Massachusetts General Hospital	Novel ocular biomechanical analysis
2008	Jerome Mertz, PhD	Boston University	Hybrid-Illumination Fluorescence Macroscopy with Out-of-Focus Blur Rejection
» View all CIMIT-Funded Projects.

Recent Publications by CIMIT Investigators
INVESTIGATOR/AUTHOR	PUBLICATION	ARTICLE	DATE
Akkin, T., Joo, C., de Boer, J. F.	Biophys J. 15:93(4):1347-53	Depth-resolved Measurement of Transient Structural Changes During Action Potential Propagation	2007
Boverman, G., Fang, Q., Carp., S. A., Miller, E. L., Brooks, D. H., Selb, J. Moore, R. H., Kopans, D. B., Boas, D. A.	Phys Med Biol. 52(12):3618-41	Spatio-temporal Imaging fo the Hemoglobin in the Compressed Breast with Diffuse Optical Tomography	2007
Chia, S., Christopher Raffel, O., Takano, M., Tearney, G. J., Bouma, B. E., Jang, I. K.	Coron Artery Dis 18(6):423-7	In-vivo Comparison of Coronary Plaque Characteristics Using Optical Coherence Tomography in Women vs. Men with Acute Coronary Syndrome	2007
Desjardins, A. E., Vakoc, B. J., Tearney, G. J., Bouma, B. E.	Opt Lett 32(21):3158- 60	Backscattering Spectroscopic Contrast with Angle-Resolved Optical Coherence Tomography	2007
Evans, J. A., Bouma, B. E., Bressner, J. Shishkov, M., Lauwers, G. Y., Mino-Kenudson, M., Nikshioka, N. S., Tearney, G. J.	Gastrointest Endosc 65(1):50-6	Identifying Intestincal Metaplasia at the Squamocolumnar Junction by Using Optical Coherence Tomography	2007
Frangioni, J. V., Kim, S. W., Ihnishi, S., Kim, S., Bawendi, M. G.	Methods Mol Biol 374:147”60	Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping with Type-II Quantum Dots	2007
Joo. C., de Boer, J. F.	Opt Lett. 32(16):2426- 8	Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Reflectometric Sensor for Highly Sensitive Molecular Detection	2007

Optical Diagnostics at the CIMIT Forum and Past Events
EVENT	DATE	SPEAKERS	DETAIL
Lester Wolfe Workshop in Laser Biomedicine: Shining Light on Melanoma	April 22, 2008	Arthur J. Sober, MD: MGH Lihong Wang, PhD: Washington Univ. in St. Louis Zeina Tannous, MD: MGH Mark F. Naylor, MD: University of Oklahoma	Framing the Problem of Melanoma Diagnosis Photoacoustic Tomography and Melanoma Imaging Clinical Imaging of Melanoma Laser Immunotherapy for Melanoma
Forum: New Views of Inside the Body: Optical Imaging for Biomedical Applications	Feb. 19, 2008	Gary Tearney, MD, MGH, CIMIT Seok-Hyun (Andy) Yun, PhD, MGH	Seeing Inside: Optical Frequency Domain Imaging and Ultra-Miniature Endoscopy Endo-Microscopy and Biomechanical Engineering: Novel Technologies and Applications
Lester Wolfe Workshop: Laser Biomedicine: Frontiers in Modern Microscopy	Nov. 20, 2007	Tony Wilson; Oxford University Wonshik Choi; MIT Carolyn Larabell; UC San Francisco, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Xiaowei Zhuang; Harvard, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Johannes de Boer; MGH Katrin Willig; Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry Katrin Kniepp; Harvard, MGH	•Making Light Work in Microscopy •Field-based Tomographic Microscopy •Imaging Cellular Structures and Molecules with X-ray Tomography •Super-Resolution Optical Microscopy with STORM •3D Optical Coherence Phase Microscopy •STED Microscopy •Nonlinear Microscopy in Local Optical Fields
Forum: The Future of Optical Medicine	May 29, 2007	Irving Bagio, PhD; BU Sergio Fantini, PhD; Tufts Guillermo Tearney, MD, PhD; MGH David Benaron, MD; Stanford; CEO, Spectros Corp. Satish Singh, MD; BU	•The Future of Optical Medicine
Lester Wolfe Workshop: Experts on Breast Cancer	Apr. 17, 2007	Barbara L. Smith; MD, PhD; MGH, HMS Maryann Fitzmaurice, MD, PhD; Case Western Reserve Arjun Yodh, PhD; U. of Pennsylvania Stephen Boppart, MD, PhD; U. of Illinois, Mills Breast Cancer Institute	•Optical Methods in Breast Cancer

Optical Diagnostics In the News
ARTICLE TITLE	PUBLICATION	DATE
New CIMIT grants fund optics and photonics innovations among high-potential medical research projects	BioOptics Word	May 19, 2009
Endoscopic imaging	Channel 7 News Healthcast	Jun. 24, 2008

Video: Channel 5 Chronicle - The Human Body Optical Diagnostics Segment

You will need the Flash Player to view. Test whether you have the Flash Player installedor download the Flash Player.