OpTeC Colloquium

OpTeC sponsors a colloquium throughout the academic year. This is a forum where a wide range of optical science and engineering topics are discussed at a level that can be understood by a broad spectrum of optics students, staff, and faculty. The primary purposes are to train students to give effective scientific talks and to promote cross-disciplinary interactions of students, staff, faculty, and local industry employees. Speakers include MSU students, staff, and faculty, and visitors from external universities, research labs, and companies.

May 1, 2025
Norm Asbjornson Hall
Room 153

on the Montana State Univeristy Campus

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Tomasz S. Tkaczyk Rice University Professor, Bioengineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering

Development of the next generation of biophotonic/photonic imaging systems  

Abstract

Photonic technologies bridge many fields and enable applications spanning, for example, from biological and biomedical diagnostics to remote sensing and imaging. The new optical design and fabrication methods I developed in my lab provide optical design freedom and allow new system functionalities. This presentation will demonstrate these capabilities and future opportunities, including examples of integrated diagnostic optics and multidimensional snapshot imaging systems. These distinct and different groups both depend on enabling manufacturing/design technologies. I will first present a case study of multimodal biological imaging and diagnostics. The solutions presented will provide morphology and spectrum, two important characteristics that can yield high specificity and sensitivity. Two main groups of devices will be discussed: (1) miniature-integrated imaging microscopes (endo-microscopes) to provide morphological content and (2) multi- and hyperspectral high-speed systems to obtain biochemical signatures. Practical aspects of multimodal system integration, fabrication, and data processing will be discussed, along with design considerations to balance the field of view and resolution of individual sub-systems. Several imaging results will be presented, including (for morphological assessment) contact imaging, confocal, structure illumination, and multi-photon imaging, and (in the area of spectral detection) narrow-band imaging (NBI), image mapping spectrometry IMS, and array snapshot systems. Application examples will include cancer diagnostics for oral, cervical, and esophageal adenocarcinoma. After discussing the multimodal imaging case, I will demonstrate the versatility of the presented approaches and their impact on other fields and their implementations in areas of point of care (POC), retinal functional imaging, brain imaging, remote sensing, etc. The presentation will be closed by discussing future opportunities and their potential impact on bio-photonic and photonic detection. Specifically, I will discuss efforts to allow photonic solutions with additive manufacturing methods.

Biographical Sketch

Tomasz S. Tkaczyk is a professor of Bioengineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University. He received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Micromechanics and Photonics, Warsaw University of Technology in 2000. He was a postdoctoral fellow and later research associate professor at the College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona (2001-2007). He joined Rice University in 2007. He is a fellow of SPIE, Optica (previously OSA), and AIMBE, and a recipient of the Paul F. Forman Engineering Excellence Award by the Optical Society of America, Norman Edmund Optics Higher Education and Inspiration Awards, and Becton-Dickinson Professional Achievement Award, among other recognitions. His research is in optical engineering and microfabrication with a special focus on microscopic research and medical diagnostics techniques, snapshot hyperspectral imaging systems, and optical system design and fabrication using freeform techniques using diamond machining and additive manufacturing. He co-authored 100+ peer-reviewed and conference publications.

Past Speakers