Lensfree computational microscopy tools for cell and tissue imaging at the point-of-care and in low-resource settings.

The recent revolution in digital technologies and information processing methods present important opportunities to transform the way optical imaging is performed, particularly toward improving the throughput of microscopes while at the same time reducing their relative cost and complexity. Lensfree computational microscopy is rapidly emerging toward this end, and by discarding lenses and other bulky optical components of conventional imaging systems, and relying on digital computation instead, it can achieve both reflection and transmission mode microscopy over a large field-of-view within compact, cost-effective and mechanically robust architectures. Such high throughput and miniaturized imaging devices can provide a complementary toolset for telemedicine applications and point-of-care diagnostics by facilitating complex and critical tasks such as cytometry and microscopic analysis of e.g., blood smears, Pap tests and tissue samples. In this article, the basics of these lensfree microscopy modalities will be reviewed, and their clinically relevant applications will be discussed

Field-portable pixel super-resolution colour microscope.

Based on partially-coherent digital in-line holography, we report a field-portable microscope that can render lensfree colour images over a wide field-of-view of e.g., >20 mm(2). This computational holographic microscope weighs less than 145 grams with dimensions smaller than 17×6×5 cm, making it especially suitable for field settings and point-of-care use. In this lensfree imaging design, we merged a colorization algorithm with a source shifting based multi-height pixel super-resolution technique to mitigate 'rainbow' like colour artefacts that are typical in holographic imaging. This image processing scheme is based on transforming the colour components of an RGB image into YUV colour space, which separates colour information from brightness component of an image. The resolution of our super-resolution colour microscope was characterized using a USAF test chart to confirm sub-micron spatial resolution, even for reconstructions that employ multi-height phase recovery to handle dense and connected objects. To further demonstrate the performance of this colour microscope Papanicolaou (Pap) smears were also successfully imaged. This field-portable and wide-field computational colour microscope could be useful for tele-medicine applications in resource poor settings

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2014-2015

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2014-2015 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This has been a good year for the Photonics Center. In the following pages, you will see that the center’s faculty received prodigious honors and awards, generated more than 100 notable scholarly publications in the leading journals in our field, and attracted $18.6M in new research grants/contracts. Faculty and staff also expanded their efforts in education and training, and were awarded two new National Science Foundation– sponsored sites for Research Experiences for Undergraduates and for Teachers. As a community, we hosted a compelling series of distinguished invited speakers, and emphasized the theme of Advanced Materials by Design for the 21st Century at our annual symposium. We continued to support the National Photonics Initiative, and are a part of a New York–based consortium that won the competition for a new photonics- themed node in the National Network of Manufacturing Institutes. Highlights of our research achievements for the year include an ambitious new DoD-sponsored grant for Multi-Scale Multi-Disciplinary Modeling of Electronic Materials led by Professor Enrico Bellotti, continued support of our NIH-sponsored Center for Innovation in Point of Care Technologies for the Future of Cancer Care led by Professor Catherine Klapperich, a new award for Personalized Chemotherapy Through Rapid Monitoring with Wearable Optics led by Assistant Professor Darren Roblyer, and a new award from DARPA to conduct research on Calligraphy to Build Tunable Optical Metamaterials led by Professor Dave Bishop. We were also honored to receive an award from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center to develop a biophotonics laboratory in our Business Innovation Center

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2014-2015

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2014-2015 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This has been a good year for the Photonics Center. In the following pages, you will see that the center’s faculty received prodigious honors and awards, generated more than 100 notable scholarly publications in the leading journals in our field, and attracted $18.6M in new research grants/contracts. Faculty and staff also expanded their efforts in education and training, and were awarded two new National Science Foundation– sponsored sites for Research Experiences for Undergraduates and for Teachers. As a community, we hosted a compelling series of distinguished invited speakers, and emphasized the theme of Advanced Materials by Design for the 21st Century at our annual symposium. We continued to support the National Photonics Initiative, and are a part of a New York–based consortium that won the competition for a new photonics- themed node in the National Network of Manufacturing Institutes. Highlights of our research achievements for the year include an ambitious new DoD-sponsored grant for Multi-Scale Multi-Disciplinary Modeling of Electronic Materials led by Professor Enrico Bellotti, continued support of our NIH-sponsored Center for Innovation in Point of Care Technologies for the Future of Cancer Care led by Professor Catherine Klapperich, a new award for Personalized Chemotherapy Through Rapid Monitoring with Wearable Optics led by Assistant Professor Darren Roblyer, and a new award from DARPA to conduct research on Calligraphy to Build Tunable Optical Metamaterials led by Professor Dave Bishop. We were also honored to receive an award from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center to develop a biophotonics laboratory in our Business Innovation Center

Lensfree super-resolution holographic microscopy using wetting films on a chip.

We investigate the use of wetting films to significantly improve the imaging performance of lensfree pixel super-resolution on-chip microscopy, achieving < 1 µm spatial resolution over a large imaging area of ~24 mm(2). Formation of an ultra-thin wetting film over the specimen effectively creates a micro-lens effect over each object, which significantly improves the signal-to-noise-ratio and therefore the resolution of our lensfree images. We validate the performance of this approach through lensfree on-chip imaging of various objects having fine morphological features (with dimensions of e.g., ≤0.5 µm) such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), human sperm, Giardia lamblia trophozoites, polystyrene micro beads as well as red blood cells. These results are especially important for the development of highly sensitive field-portable microscopic analysis tools for resource limited settings

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2016-2017

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2016-2017 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This has undoubtedly been the Photonics Center’s best year since I became Director 10 years ago. In the following pages, you will see highlights of the Center’s activities in the past year, including more than 100 notable scholarly publications in the leading journals in our field, and the attraction of more than 22 million dollars in new research grants/contracts. Last year I had the honor to lead an international search for the first recipient of the Moustakas Endowed Professorship in Optics and Photonics, in collaboration with ECE Department Chair Clem Karl. This professorship honors the Center’s most impactful scholar and one of the Center’s founding visionaries, Professor Theodore Moustakas. We are delighted to haveawarded this professorship to Professor Ji-Xin Cheng, who joined our faculty this year.The past year also marked the launch of Boston University’s Neurophotonics Center, which will be allied closely with the Photonics Center. Leading that Center will be a distinguished new faculty member, Professor David Boas. David and I are together leading a new Neurophotonics NSF Research Traineeship Program that will provide $3M to promote graduate traineeships in this emerging new field. We had a busy summer hosting NSF Sites for Research Experiences for Undergraduates, Research Experiences for Teachers, and the BU Student Satellite Program. As a community, we emphasized the theme of “Optics of Cancer Imaging” at our annual symposium, hosted by Darren Roblyer. We entered a five-year second phase of NSF funding in our Industry/University Collaborative Research Center on Biophotonic Sensors and Systems, which has become the centerpiece of our translational biophotonics program. That I/UCRC continues to focus on advancing the health care and medical device industries

Biophotonic Tools in Cell and Tissue Diagnostics.

In order to maintain the rapid advance of biophotonics in the U.S. and enhance our competitiveness worldwide, key measurement tools must be in place. As part of a wide-reaching effort to improve the U.S. technology base, the National Institute of Standards and Technology sponsored a workshop titled "Biophotonic tools for cell and tissue diagnostics." The workshop focused on diagnostic techniques involving the interaction between biological systems and photons. Through invited presentations by industry representatives and panel discussion, near- and far-term measurement needs were evaluated. As a result of this workshop, this document has been prepared on the measurement tools needed for biophotonic cell and tissue diagnostics. This will become a part of the larger measurement road-mapping effort to be presented to the Nation as an assessment of the U.S. Measurement System. The information will be used to highlight measurement needs to the community and to facilitate solutions

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2015-2016

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2015-2016 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This has been a good year for the Photonics Center. In the following pages, you will see that this year the Center’s faculty received prodigious honors and awards, generated more than 100 notable scholarly publications in the leading journals in our field, and attracted $18.9M in new research grants/contracts. Faculty and staff also expanded their efforts in education and training, and cooperated in supporting National Science Foundation sponsored Sites for Research Experiences for Undergraduates and for Research Experiences for Teachers. As a community, we emphasized the theme of “Frontiers in Plasmonics as Enabling Science in Photonics and Beyond” at our annual symposium, hosted by Bjoern Reinhard. We continued to support the National Photonics Initiative, and contributed as a cooperating site in the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics) which began this year as a new photonics-themed node in the National Network of Manufacturing Institutes. Highlights of our research achievements for the year include an ambitious new DoD-sponsored grant for Development of Less Toxic Treatment Strategies for Metastatic and Drug Resistant Breast Cancer Using Noninvasive Optical Monitoring led by Professor Darren Roblyer, continued support of our NIH-sponsored, Center for Innovation in Point of Care Technologies for the Future of Cancer Care led by Professor Cathy Klapperich, and an exciting confluence of new grant awards in the area of Neurophotonics led by Professors Christopher Gabel, Timothy Gardner, Xue Han, Jerome Mertz, Siddharth Ramachandran, Jason Ritt, and John White. Neurophotonics is fast becoming a leading area of strength of the Photonics Center. The Industry/University Collaborative Research Center, which has become the centerpiece of our translational biophotonics program, continues to focus onadvancing the health care and medical device industries, and has entered its sixth year of operation with a strong record of achievement and with the support of an enthusiastic industrial membership base

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2011-2012

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2011-2012 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This report summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center during the period July 2011 through June 2012. These activities span the Center’s complementary missions in education, research, technology development, and commercialization. In 2010, the Photonics Center unveiled a five-year strategic plan as part of the University’s comprehensive review of centers and institutes. The Photonics Center continues to show progress on the Photonics Center strategic plan and is growing the Center’s position as an international leader in photonics research. For more information about the strategic plan, read the Photonics Center Strategic Plan section on page 11. In research, Photonics Center faculty published more than 100 journal papers spanning the field of photonics. A number of awards for outstanding achievement in education and research were presented to Photonics Center faculty members, including a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for Professor Altug, the Boston University Peter Paul Professorship for Professor Han, and a Dean’s Catalyst Award for Professor Joshi. New external grant funding for the 2011-2012 fiscal year totaled $15.8M. For more information on our research activities, read the Research section on page 26. In technology development, the close of FY11 marked the end of the Photonics Center’s decade-long collaboration pipeline technology development with the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The successful outcomes of that unique partnership include a compelling series of photonics technology prototypes aimed at force protection. Our direct collaboration with Army end users has enabled transformative advanced in sniper detection of bioterror agents, and nuclear threat detection. In the past year, the Photonics Center has expanded the scope of its unique photonic technology development program to include applications in the commercial healthcare sector. For more information on our technology development program and on specific projects, read the Technology Development section on page 52. In education, 17 Photonics Center graduate students received Ph.D. diplomas. Photonics Center faculty taught 29 photonics courses. The Center supported a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) site in Biophotonic Sensors and Systems for 10 middle school and high school teachers. The Photonics Center sponsored the Herbert J. Berman “Future of Light” Prize at the University’s Science and Engineering Day. Professor Goldberg’s Boston Urban Fellows Project started its seventh year. For more on our education programs, read the Education section on page 64. In commercialization, the Business Innovation Center continues to operate at capacity. Its tenants include 11 technology companies with a majority having core business interests primarily in photonics and life sciences. It houses several companies founded by current and former BU faculty and students and provides students with an opportunity to assist, observe, and learn from start-up companies. For more information about Business Innovation Center activities, read the Business Innovation Center chapter in the Facilities and Equipment section on page 78