Jason Michael Zara, Ph.D.
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The George Washington University

Abstract

This talk will focus on new scanning technologies and clinical applications of endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT). OCT is a near infrared imaging modality analogous to ultrasound that can produce very high resolution images (10 µm or less) up to 2 mm deep into tissue. One of the most promising applications of OCT is the use of endoscopic imaging probes that can be used to bring the infrared light to the surface of mucosal tissues for cancer detection. For this reason, OCT imaging probes need to be very compact to fit inside the body in a minimally invasive manner. To approach this issue we are working on novel polyimide MEMS scanning methods for endoscopic imaging applications. In addition, we are also investigating the use of existing endoscopic OCT scanning technologies to image and diagnose bladder cancer. In addition to developing novel probes, we are very interested in using texture analysis and other computer-aided diagnostic methods to aid in cancer detection and staging using OCT images. This talk will present the basics of OCT, the technology and preliminary results used in our new scanning probes, and also present the use and early results of OCT in bladder cancer detection.

[Talk Slides]

Biography:

Dr. Zara received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University in 2001 and a B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1996. He has been an Assistant Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at GWU since September 2002. His research interests include medical imaging instrumentation and applications of MEMS and microfabrication technologies to medical applications. Imaging modalities of interest include Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and high frequency ultrasound.