What you can do with spectroscopy and more - AIO Day 2
Arlene Smith, Ph.D.
David Cuccia (Modulated Imaging Inc, USA) delved further into the biomedical field with a presentation on his work on the 'Validation of Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging (SFDI) for Biomedial Research Applications'. Current diagnostic tools and techniques for assessing damage to skin are inadequate. SFDI has the potential to address this issue by extending qualitative NIRS techniques to wide-field imaging for spatially resolving tissue composition and function. David also described the journey from lab to working prototype to production of the current, second generation multi-spectral instrument.
Tomasz Tkacyzk (Rice Univ, USA) rounded out the session with a talk on 'Miniature Integrated Optics for Biomedical Imaging Applications and Hyperspectral Snapshot Modalities'. Tomasz spoke on the challenges facing the miniaturization of imaging systems - small dimensions with high performance and large field of view, elimination of scatter and out of focus background - and the practical considerations of mass production at low cost.
After lunch, Stacey Carrier (tec5USA, USA) started the 'I Can Do That With Spectroscopy' session with 'Spectroscopy for Online Process Control'. Stacey presented spectroscopic techniques which allow quick data acquisition to allow fast, automatic reactions from control systems to improve yields. David Creasey (Ocean Optics, UK) walked us through the myriad applications of spectroscopy in 'Solutions in Search of Problems: What Spectroscopy Can Do For You'. Spectroscopy is no longer confined to the laboratory and the philosophy of taking the measurement to the sample is gowing at exponential rates, enabled by the miniaturization of spectrometers and more efficient illumination sources. Jarkko Antila (Spectral Engines, Finland) spoke about his work on 'New Miniaturized Infrared Sensor Platform for Industrial Applications', which uses MEMS to squeeze spectroscopy to pocket size, opening up the range of potential applications for this technology.
Jaeyoun Kim (Iowa State Univ, USA) led us into the final technical session of the Day ('Amazing Adaptives') with his talk titled 'The Promise of Highly Deformable Soft Optics'. Jaeyoun summarized the emergence of soft optics and the potential applications of PDMS, from microfluidic microscopy to air-flow sensing with deformable optics. Finally, Anthony Grbic (Univ of Michigan, USA) described 'Wavefront and Polarization Control with Metasurfaces'. Metamaterials are engineered materials with tailored electromagnetic properties, derived from their subwavelength structure; metasurfaces are 2D metamaterials. Anthony explored optically thin metasurfaces, which can be used to create ultra compact imaging systems.
After a short break, attendees mingled around the Congress Poster Session, continuing the discussions from today's sessions and meeting the poster presenters from AIO and other Topical Meetings.
