Network and learn at our imaging events

This lecture will explore the innovative application of label-free flow cyto-tomography in the study of suspended cells. Traditional methods of cellular analysis often rely on labeling techniques that can alter or obscure native structures, limiting the accuracy of observations. Flow cyto-tomography, however, provides a powerful, non-invasive alternative for visualizing and quantifying the internal architecture of cells in suspension. By combining the principles of flow cytometry with high-resolution tomographic imaging, this technique offers unprecedented insights into cellular morphology, organelle organization, and quantification of subcellular structures. The lecture will cover the underlying technology, its applications in biomedical research, and its potential to advance our understanding of cellular function in health and disease. Looking ahead, this approach could pave the way for novel diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategies, opening new frontiers in personalized medicine and cellular engineering.

Fluorescence microscopy is a central technique for quantifying the spatiotemporal distribution of cellular compartments. However, the ability to accurately retrieve biological information from images depends strongly on the quality of the data. The perceived quality of fluorescence microscopy images can be improved by imaging with higher illumination doses, however this comes at the cost of potentially damaging and altering the behaviour of living samples. To reduce the impact of noise when acquiring at lower illumination densities, image processing techniques have been developed, many of which are based on AI. Here, we interrogate quality metrics which are commonly used to assess the performance of image processing methods. These methods are commonly used in microscopy, but have their origins in computer vision. We show that these metrics report not just image quality, but also other characteristic features of fluorescence microscopy images, which can confound their interpretation. We also quantify how predictive these metrics are of successful downstream image analysis for a variety of common tasks, and discuss how and when these metrics should be best used.

As lead of the Bioinspiration Lab, Kakani and her group investigates ways that imaging can enable observations of life in the deep sea. By developing novel imaging and illumination tools (e.g., DeepPIV and EyeRIS), automating the classification of underwater visual data using artificial intelligence (FathomNet), and integrating algorithms on vehicles (ML-Tracking) for robotic vehicle missions (e.g., Mesobot, LRAUV) to consistently and persistently observe ocean life, their efforts will increase access to biology and related phenomena in the deep sea. If successful, the Bioinspiration Lab hopes to spark collaborative research and engineering innovations inspired by poorly understood inhabitants living in the least explored habitat on our planet.

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Bio: Kakani Katija completed her bachelor's degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington in 2004. She furthered her studies, earning a Master's in Aeronautics in 2005 at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and her Doctorate at Caltech in 2010 in Bioengineering. She served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.Katija was awarded research fellowships from both the American Society for Engineering Education and the National Science Foundation to conduct graduate research. As a certified research diver, she has conducted field studies in various locations throughout the world, including research completed in 2009 off the coast of the Palau archipelago. The goal of this study was to understand the physics involved in the movement of jellyfish. The science team discovered the jellyfish not only push water into their bells but drag an almost constant flume of water behind them. This discovery led Katija to study how marine life contributes to mixing the ocean. Katija's work also includes understanding how much sea creatures mix fluid in the ocean at rates comparable to winds and tides. Katija now leads the Bioinspiration lab at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, California, where she has developed DeepPIV, a research tool intended to make conducting experiments in ocean habitats less invasive and improve marine research techniques. She has participated in two expeditions on board R/V Falkor - Designing the Future and Designing the Future 2 testing the newly developed technologies on board. Imagery from the use of the DeepPIV used on board Schmidt Ocean Institute's R/V Falkor, is available on SketchFab.

Specially designed meta-structure components can mass-produce artificial nano-array structures through semiconductor microelectronics fabrication procedures, and can manipulate the phase, polarization, and amplitude of electromagnetic waves. Meta-devices can meet a variety of current urgent needs, such as novel functions, lightweight, small size, higher efficiency, better performance, broadband operation, lower energy consumption, compatibility with semiconductor mass processing technology, etc. This talk reports on the design, manufacturing and novel applications of optical meta-devices, such as achromatic meta-lens, advanced imaging, intelligent sensing, nonlinear generation of vacuum ultraviolet light, medical and biological imaging, 6G communications, tunable meta-structures, high-dimensional quantum light source, etc. We believe that meta-devices have opened up a new avenue for future developments of next-generation devices in fields such as micro-robotic vision, autonomous driving, vehicle sensors, virtual and augmented reality, personal miniature security systems, bio-medical devices, advanced medical care, and quantum information technology, etc.

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Bio: Din Ping TSAI He is a Chair Professor of Dept. of Electrical Engineering, City Univ. of Hong Kong. He is Fellow of AAAS, APS, COS, EMA, IEEE, JSAP, NAI, OSA, SPIE, and AAIA, respectively. He is Member of the International Academy of Engineering (IAE), and Academician of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Materials (APAM) and Hong Kong Academy of Engineering (HKAE), respectively. He is the author of 388 refereed papers. He was granted 69 patents for 45 innovations. He was invited speaker for international conferences more than 355 times (31 Plenary Talks, 66 Keynote Talks). He received more than 40 prestigious recognitions and awards, including “Mozi Award” from the International Society of Optical Engineering (SPIE) in 2018; “Global Highly Cited Researchers,” by Web of Science Group (Clarivate Analytics) in 2020 and 2019, respectively; China’s Top 10 Optical Breakthroughs in 2020 and 2018, respectively; and 2024 Frontiers of Science Award; etc.