Bruce Tromberg, Ph.D.

Director, Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic & Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering

University of California, Irvine

Speech Title:

Biophotonics and the Future of Personal Health Care

Abstract:

Biophotonics technologies can be designed to provide unique, dynamic information about tissue structure and biochemical composition. Their impact spans from medical diagnostic and therapeutic devices to consumer-based wearable sensors. With advances in device miniaturization and high performance photonics components, the line between conventional medical instruments and consumer devices is becoming increasingly blurred. Health care economic pressures are further accelerating this ambiguity by shifting clinical attention from expensive disease treatments to strategies for cost-effective disease management and prevention. This talk introduces emerging Biophotonics technologies that are capable of characterizing tissue structure and biochemical composition spanning from micro- to macroscopic regimes. We will illustrate the power of both wearable and non-contact optical devices for assessing tissue functional parameters including: tissue blood, water and lipid content; tissue oxygenation and oxygen consumption, heart and respiration rate, and tissue blood flow. Finally, we will consider projected trends in development that are expected to impact how we generate, access, and manage this complex information and improve outcomes for individual patients.

Bio:

Dr. Tromberg is the Director of the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic (BLI) at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and principal investigator of the Laser Microbeam and Medical Program (LAMMP), an NIH P41 National Biomedical Technology Center in the BLI. He is a Professor with joint appointments in the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Surgery and has been a member of the UCI faculty since 1990.
Dr. Tromberg co-leads the Onco-imaging and Biotechnology Program in UCI’s NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Translational Technology Program in UCI’s NIH-designated Institute for Clinical and Translational Science. His research spans the interdisciplinary fields of Biophotonics and Biomedical Optics with particular emphasis on the development of new technologies for medical imaging and therapy. Major areas of activity include Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy and Imaging, Non-linear Optical Microscopy, and Photodynamic Therapy. His work includes more than 300 publications and 13 patents in Biophotonics technologies and their application to problems in cancer, vascular disease, neuroscience, and critical care. He serves on several national advisory committees, including the Experimental Imaging Sciences Committee for the American College of Radiology Imaging Networks (ACRIN) and is a council member for the NIH National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). Dr. Tromberg is the former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Biomedical Optics and is an editorial board member for the journals Measurement Science and Technology and Cancer Research. He has received several awards for his work, including the R&D 100 Award and the OE Magazine Technology Innovator Award, and is a Fellow of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers (AIMBE).