Colloquium: DK Kang - Spectrally encoded confocal microscopy...

Full Title: Spectrally encoded confocal microscopy for comprehensive and low-cost in vivo cellular imaging

Abstract(s):
Spectrally encoded confocal microscopy (SECM) uses a diffraction grating and broadband light source to conduct line confocal imaging without using any beam scanning device. SECM has two major advantages over conventional confocal microscopy devices: i) imaging speed can be increased by orders of magnitude; and ii) imaging probe can be made simple and small. We have focused on two clinical applications of the SECM technology: gastrointestinal endoscopy and dermatology. We have developed SECM endoscopic devices that imaged human esophagus in vivo. With the small endoscopic SECM optics and high imaging speed of SECM, we have acquired the largest in vivo confocal image of human esophagus ever reported. We have imaged patients with Barrett’s esophagus (BE) and Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) and the acquired SECM images revealed key cellular features associated these diseases, including glands and goblet cells in BE and inflammatory cells in EoE. We also have developed a low-cost smartphone confocal microscope and have been conducting a pilot study of imaging Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) in Uganda. The smartphone confocal microscope clearly visualized characteristic cellular features of human skin in vivo. Preliminary findings from the Uganda study include that ex vivo confocal images obtained with the smartphone confocal microscope visualized irregularly-sized and shaped capillaries, which might be associated with KS.

Speaker Bio(s):
Dr. Dongkyun “DK” Kang is an Assistant professor of Optical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering. Prior to joining the U of A, Dr. Kang worked as an Assistant professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Kang received his PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). His research interests include in vivo microscopy technologies for low-resource settings and high-speed in vivo endomicroscopy technologies. Dr. Kang is currently leading a NIH-sponsored international study of using a smartphone confocal microscope for diagnosing Kaposi’s sarcoma in Uganda.