Viswanath Gorti

BME PhD Proposal Presentation

Date: 2023-12-06
Time: 9:30-11:30 AM
Location / Meeting Link: EBB CHOA Seminar Room [https://gatech.zoom.us/j/95856862674]

Committee Members:
Francisco E. Robles, PhD (Advisor); Shu Jia, PhD; Erin Buckley, PhD; Wilbur Lam, MD/PhD; Waitman Aumann, MD


Title: Deep-ultraviolet microscopy for point-of-care diagnostics and cell characterization

Abstract:
Deep-Ultraviolet (UV) microscopy enables high-resolution, label-free molecular imaging by leveraging unique absorption properties of biomolecules in the UV region of the spectrum (~200-400 nm). The use of UV light in microscopy has been historically limited, but recent advances in UV light sources and detectors have resulted in the re-emergence of the optical technique with various live-cell imaging applications, including quantitative biomolecular mass-mapping, hematological analysis, and histopathology. This proposal aims to expand the capabilities of UV microscopy for biomedical applications. We first advance UV microscopy for point-of-care diagnostic applications by developing compact, low-cost UV systems capable of fast molecular imaging. We demonstrate these systems for rapid hematology analysis and evaluation of bone marrow aspirate samples. We then leverage multispectral and multiscale capabilities of existing UV microscopes to interrogate cellular samples and further our understanding of biological phenomena. We apply these findings to subtype lymphocytes with high accuracy and phenotype cancer cell populations. Finally, we propose an epi-mode UV microscope for label-free, tomographic imaging of thick samples, which would not only address limitations of previous transmission-mode systems but enable vast diagnostic applications.