Distributed Charge Compton Sources and the Precision Detection and Treatment of Disease
Abstract
Medical robotics has been widely applied in areas such as surgical assistance, enabling higher precision, reduced fatigue, and enhanced performance, and tele-operation, allowing surgeons to perform procedures remotely without being physically present with the patient. A key enabler of medical robotics is imaging, which has rapidly evolved over the past two decades to support more minimally invasive, personalized, and low-risk diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. My research group focuses on the intersection of medical robotics, sensing, and imaging, with the aim of developing robotic-assisted imaging systems and image-guided robotic interventional platforms. We emphasize ultrasound and photoacoustic (PA) imaging due to their real-time capabilities, accessibility, and compact form, which make them ideal for integration into interventional procedures. In this talk, I will highlight two major research thrusts in our lab. First, I will present our work on PA-based functional image-guided interventions, which provide functional information such as disease states and therapy progression. This approach enables high-sensitivity, multimodal robotic-assisted surgical guidance. Specifically, we are investigating the use of molecular-targeted contrast agents to delineate prostate cancer using spectroscopic PA (sPA) imaging, and a label-free sPA method to monitor therapeutic progression during cardiac ablation. Second, I will discuss autonomous robotic imaging, which aims to reduce user dependency during image acquisition, resulting in higher-quality images and more comprehensive scanning. This includes our development of a robotic optical coherence tomography (OCT) platform for quantifying microstructural parameters of human kidneys during transplant surgeries to assess organ viability,and an autonomous ultrasound robot for diagnosing lung diseases. These advancements in robotic imaging and intervention have the potential to significantly enhance both diagnostic capabilities and therapeutic outcomes, paving the way for the next generation of medical imaging and robotics.
Biography
Prof. C.P.J. (Chris) Barty is a Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine (https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/bartylab/). He is also the co-founder of Lumitron Technologies, Inc of Irvine, California (www.lumitronxrays.com). At UCI he has affiliations with the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic, the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is the senior member of UCIʼs Convergence Optical Sciences Initiative (COSI). Prior to his arrival in Southern California in 2017, he had served as the chief technology officer for the $0.5B/annum, National Ignition Facility and Photon Science Directorate at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Prof. Barty received his Ph.D. and M.S. in applied physics from Stanford University and B.S.ʼs in chemistry, physics and chemical engineering, each with honors, from North Carolina State University. He is a fellow of OSA, IEEE,APS, SPIE, and AAAS. Recent recognitions include; the Harold E. Edgerton Award of the SPIE and the R. W. Wood Prize of the OSA.
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