Title:  Cardiovascular Optical Imaging with Polarimetry

Abstract: Intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) is widely available for biomedical imaging in order to guide percutaneous intervention and characterize atherosclerosis in arteries. Conventional imaging provides cross-sectional images based on the intensity of back-scattered infrared light and is characterized by high resolution and high acquisition speed, and is commonly used in medicine. Polarization-sensitive OCT is well known for its ability to characterize the birefringence of biological tissues but robust implementation of polarimetry through rotating optical catheters has proven challenging. This seminar will focus on the physical principles underpinning polarimetry and the hurdles to its use in intravascular imaging. A new processing approach will be discussed that permits accurate quantitative polarimetry and results from a study of human cadaver vessels with comparison to histopathology. Recent results from a human pilot study in vivo will also be presented, that demonstrate the potential of polarimetry for enhancing image contrast and the information that can be obtained about coronary atherosclerosis.

Bio: Dr. Bouma studied physics and math as an undergraduate at Hope College and pursued nuclear physics, starting graduate studies at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University before changing course to atomic and molecular physics and conducting his dissertation research in the high intensity ultraviolet laser facility at the University of Illinois at Chicago. As a Post-doctoral Fellow and, later, Research Scientist at MIT, he innovated new instrumentation and methods for optical coherence tomography. Since joining the faculty of Harvard Medical School and the MIT Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, his work has focused on the development and clinical application of advanced optical technologies. He has published over 240 manuscripts that have collectively accumulated over 53,000 citations, reflecting an hindex of 72 (Web of Science) and 120 (Google Scholar). Most of his >120 patents have been licensed to four different companies, resulting in 5 distinct medical devices on the market.

‘Center for Biomedical OCT Research and Translation’,  octresearch.org.