From Light to Sound: Imaging, Treating, and Building Tissues at Depth
Abstract
Integrating light and sound, our research weaves engineering innovations that map, treat, and ultimately engineer living tissues at depthsunreachable by conventional optical methods—spanning scales from single cells to whole organs.
(1) Seeing deep with clarity and color. Our photoacoustic imaging (PAI) converts optical absorption into ultrasound emission, enabling multi-scale functional and molecular imaging. We accelerate photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) by 1000×, unlocking real-time observations of neural activity, placental development, and the remarkable transparency of glassfrogs. Using genetically encoded photoswitchable probes, we further enhance the molecular sensitivity of photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) by 1000×, enabling reliable detection of cancer metastasis, tissue regeneration, and neuronal signaling in deep tissues. (2) Treating deep with precision. We translate deep-tissue ultrasound technologies into clinical practice through super-resolution passive cavitation mapping (SR-PCM) integrated with laser lithotripsy. By localizing laser-induced cavitation with >10× sub-diffraction precision, SR-PCM provides real-time, closed-loop surgical guidance that significantly improves the efficiency and safety of kidney-stone treatments. (3) Building deep with safety. Our ultrasound volumetric in-situ printing (UltraVIP) technology overcomes the penetration limits of light-based bioprinting by >100×, using focused ultrasound energy to fabricate intricate three-dimensional structures within deep-seated tissues. UltraVIP expands the possibilities of regenerative medicine, minimally invasive surgery, and in situ tissue engineering. Together, these advances form a unified research pipeline that harnesses light–sound energy conversion and control for noninvasive imaging, image-guided intervention, and deep-tissue biofabrication—paving the way for next-generation diagnostic, therapeutic, and regenerative technologies.
Biography
Dr. Junjie Yao is Jeffrey N. Vinik Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Bass Chair Professor at Duke University, with a secondary appointment at Duke Neurology. He is also the Associate Director of Duke Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics. Dr. Yao earned his B.S. (2006) and M.S. (2008) degrees from Tsinghua University (Beijing, China). He further completed his doctoral study at Washington University in St. Louis in 2013 and postdoctoral training in 2016, under the mentoring of Dr. Lihong V. Wang. At Duke
University, Dr. Yao’s research involves the conversion and control of light and sound for high-speed functional brain imaging, deep-tissue molecular imaging, early-stage cancer detection, super-resolution passive cavitation mapping, and through-tissue ultrasound printing. Dr. Yao’s Google Scholar Citation is ~15500, with an H-index of 59 and i10-index of 160. Dr. Yao’s contributions to the field of biomedical engineering have been recognized with IEEE Photonic Society Young Investigator Award (2019), National Jewish Fund Faculty Fellow (2021), NSF CAREER Award (2022), Nature Rising Stars of Light Award (2023), IC-UEBA Young Investigator Award (2025), Highly Citied Researcher List by Clarivate (2025), and Stansell Family Distinguished Research Award (2025). Dr. Yao is the Associate Editor of Science Advances, Journal of Biomedical Optics, BMC Medical Imaging, and Journal of Photoacoustics. Dr. Yao was elected as a Fellow of OPTICA (2022), SPIE (2025) and AIMBE (2025), ‘for breaking the limits of photoacoustic imaging in resolution, speed, and functionality, and translating the technical innovations to theragnostic impacts’. For more detailed information about Dr. Yao’s research, please visit his website at http://photoacoustics.pratt.duke.edu/.
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