{"id":863,"date":"2017-09-11T14:32:20","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T19:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/universityfundingprograms\/?p=863"},"modified":"2017-09-13T09:16:49","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T14:16:49","slug":"diagnostic-imaging-and-image-guided-interventions-diigi-laboratory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.dev.vanderbilt.edu\/universityfundingprograms\/2017\/09\/diagnostic-imaging-and-image-guided-interventions-diigi-laboratory\/","title":{"rendered":"Diagnostic Imaging and Image-Guided Interventions (DIIGI) Laboratory"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kenny

Kenny Tao, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering<\/p><\/div>\n

Written by\u00a0Yuankai (Kenny) Tao<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The Diagnostic Imaging and Image-Guided Interventions (DIIGI)\u00a0Laboratory<\/strong> develops novel optical imaging systems for clinical diagnostics and therapeutic monitoring in ophthalmology and oncology. Biomedical optics enable non-invasive, subcellular visualization of tissue morphology, biological dynamics and disease pathogenesis. Our ongoing research primarily focuses on clinical translation of therapeutic tools for image-guided intraoperative feedback using modalities including optical coherence tomography (OCT), which provides high-resolution volumetric imaging of weakly scattering tissue; and nonlinear microscopy. This practice\u00a0has improved molecular-specificity, imaging depth and contrast over conventional white-light and fluorescence microscopy. Additionally, we have developed optical imaging techniques that exploit intrinsic functional contrast for\u00a0in vivo<\/i>\u00a0monitoring of blood flow and oxygenation as surrogate biomarkers of cellular metabolism and early indicators of disease. The majority of our research projects are multidisciplinary collaborations between investigators in engineering, basic sciences and medicine.<\/span><\/p>\n