From Optical to Optoacoustic Imaging: Technology Advances and Clinical Translation
Abstract
Biological discovery is a driving force of biomedical progress. With rapidly advancing technology to collect and analyze information from cells and tissues, we generate biomedical knowledge at rates never before attainable to science. Nevertheless, conversion of this knowledge to patient benefits remains a slow process. To accelerate the process of
reaching solutions for healthcare, it would be important to strongly complement this culture of discovery with a culture of problem-solving in healthcare.
The talk focuses on recent progress with optical and optoacoustic technologies, including Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography (MSOT) and Raster-scan Optoacoustic Mesoscopy (RSOM), as well as computational methods, as the means to opening new paths for solutions in biology and medicine. Particular attention is given on the use of these
technologies for early detection and monitoring of disease evolution. The talk further shows new classes of imaging systems and sensors for assessing biochemical and pathophysiological parameters of systemic diseases, complement knowledge from –omic analytics and drive integrated solutions for improving healthcare.
Biography
Professor Vasilis Ntziachristos studied electrical engineering at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. Following his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, he was then appointed Assistant Professor and Director of the Laboratory for Bio-Optics and Molecular Imaging at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Since 2007, he has served as Professor of Medicine and Electrical Engineering and the Chair of Biological Imaging at the Technical University of Munich and Director of the Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging at Helmholtz Munich. Prof. Ntziachristos is also currently Director of Bioengineering at the Helmholtz Pioneer Campus, the Head of the Bioengineering Department at Helmholtz Munich, and Director of the IESL at FORTH. Prof. Ntziachristos is the founder of the journal Photoacoustics, regularly Chairs in international meetings and councils and has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Karl Heinz Beckurts prize (2021), the Chaire Blaise Pascal (2019) from the Region Ile-de-France, the Gold Medal from the Society for Molecular Imaging (2015), the Gottfried Leibnitz prize from the German Research Foundation (2013), the Erwin Schrödinger Award (2012) and was named one of the world’s top innovators by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Technology Review in 2004. In 2024, he has been elected as a new member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
Click here to register for in-person attendance (lunch will be served)
