Anthony Yu
BME PhD Proposal Presentation
Date: 2026-09-04
Time: 1:30 PM
Location / Meeting Link: MoSE 1224
Committee Members:
Stanislav Emelianov; Scott Hollister; Michelle Laplaca; Costas Arvanitis; Umberto Villa
Title: Photoacoustic Imaging for Quantitative Assessment of Vascular Biomarkers in Disease
Abstract:
Alterations in vascular structure, oxygenation, and molecular activity can precede overt pathological changes, creating opportunities for earlier prediction, diagnosis, and evaluation of interventions. Photoacoustic imaging combines optical absorption contrast with ultrasonic detection, allowing volumetric assessment of vascular anatomy, blood oxygenation, and exogenous molecular agents. However, quantitative interpretation is complicated by variations in optical fluence, imaging conditions, and the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of pathological responses. This research develops and applies quantitative photoacoustic methods across molecular, structural, and functional imaging applications. Volumetric photoacoustic tomography was characterized in phantoms and small animals and used to localize an MMP-9 responsive nanoparticle sensor within a murine breast tumor. In a subcutaneous implant model, longitudinal photoacoustic imaging identified a progressive decline in normalized vascular density that distinguished animals at risk of implant exposure as early as four weeks before tissue breakdown. In a mild traumatic brain injury model, oxygenation changes in the most affected superficial cervical lymph node completely separated injured from sham animals and correlated with injury severity. Ongoing work will validate dynamic reconstruction methods under controlled conditions, evaluate implant design and treatment strategies, and determine whether postinjury oxygenation and spatial heterogeneity metrics can support mTBI diagnosis without baseline imaging. Together, these studies establish a quantitative photoacoustic framework for characterizing molecular processes, predicting tissue failure, evaluating interventions, and detecting and grading injury.
