Ultrahigh Resolution Optical Coherence Tomography for Retinal Diseases and Ear Infections

Non-invasive optical imaging technologies are essential in evaluating various tissue structures and conditions, impacting overall disease management. One example is optical coherence tomography (OCT), which generates depth-resolved, cross-sectional images of the tissue, similar to ultrasound imaging. OCT is currently the gold standard imaging modality in ophthalmology, and numerous technological advances of OCT in terms of resolution, speed, and analytical computational methods are ongoing. In this talk, recent studies on volumetric ultrahigh resolution OCT in normal aging and age-related macular degeneration are discussed. Advances in ultrahigh resolution may facilitate imaging studies investigating the earliest structural-functional changes in retina associated with disease pathogenesis. As another emerging application of OCT, we demonstrate the development of handheld imaging devices to non-invasively visualize and study the middle ear cavity during a middle ear infection, a prevalent pediatric disease caused by bacteria or viral pathogens in the middle ear. Collectively, these results demonstrate new imaging technologies that can provide quantitative and clinically relevant information, and form a bridge that links engineering and biomedicine for clinical translation of the technology.

Jungeun (Jenny) Won is an Assistant Professor of Research in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UB. She joined UB in Spring 2024 after a postdoctoral training in Prof. James G. Fujimoto’s group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign under Prof. Stephen A. Boppart’s supervision, and her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with Optics from the University of Rochester. She is the recipient of McGinnis Medical Innovation Fellowship, Mavis Future Faculty Fellowship, Baxter Young Investigator Award, Nadine Barrie Smith Memorial Fellowship, and Bob Bilger Graduate Student Award. Her research interests include developing biophotonics tools and computational approaches for medical challenges and translating them for clinical use.