Jeffrey Watson Conference Summary

Jeffrey Watson Conference Summary

Jeffrey Watson
Ph.D. Candidate

Biomedical Engineering GIDP

Conference Summary
Photonics West 2016 Conference
San Francisco, CA
February 13-18, 2016

Photonics West is considered to be one of the largest optics and photonics meetings in the world. It brings together world leading researchers to present their latest accomplishments and ideas in an effort to disseminate knowledge and advance the field. This meeting, held annually in San Francisco, CA, hosts more than 20,000 people, and the industry exposition brings over 1,300 exhibitors to demonstrate future technology. This meeting is the perfect opportunity for early researchers, such as graduate students like myself, to learn, meet companies, and network to further their academic and professional career.

This year at Photonics West, I presented my work titled “Intraoperative imaging with augmented microscopy” in the Molecular Guided Surgery: Molecules, Devices, and Applications conference. This work was also submitted as a proceedings paper titled “Intraoperative imaging with intravascular contrast agents” which will be available after the conference. Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging has become more prevalent over the last decade. This is observed through the increase in clinical trials involving NIR light and the exponential increase in publications discussing NIR fluorescence surgery. My research discusses the development of an image guided surgery device, the augmented microscope, that aims to visualize NIR and visible light simultaneously within the oculars of the microscope. The work I presented this year demonstrated the use of the augmented microscope to guide surgical resection of a glioma in a rat model. The preliminary study demonstrated diffusion of indocyanine green (ICG), a FDA approved NIR contrast agent, into the tumor tissue and observed using the augmented microscope. The ICG signal denoted tumor location and helped the surgeon visualize positive tumor margins. My colleagues were excited to see the progress I have made since the previous introduction to the technology I presented at Photonics West 2015. I was excited to receive questions about my research that stimulated discussion of the science and technology. Following my presentation, I took the opportunity to introduce myself to unfamiliar faces in my conference session including Heather Franklin, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Blaze Biosciences, a company currently working to develop a molecular targeted contrast agent called Tumor Paint. I think it is essential to know fellow researchers that are interested in my research or the field of molecular guided surgery. These interactions also developed into discussions of other related research and even potential for collaboration. I was very excited to meet the conference chairs Drs. Brian Pogue and Sylvain Gioux, both leaders in the field and responsible for accepting my research as an oral presentation.

There were numerous presentations this year regarding image guided surgical intervention. I believe that developing a good understanding of the field and its future directions is an important part about attending conferences. I connected with colleagues that work on similar research avenues including Drs. Walter Akers and Mikhail Berezin, both professors at Washington University. It was exciting to hear about each of their research endeavors and the advances made in the last year. We also had lively discussions on the potential challenges that face our research. I also attended a talk on augmented reality displays and its current progress presented by Dr. Hakan Urey, professor at Koc University. He gave an excellent presentation demonstrating some of the most advanced virtual reality systems to date. The information was well aligned with my interests and I learned more about the technology and its potential for integration into my research. One of the largest problems facing augmented reality applications today is retaining contrast between the virtual image and the surrounding environment due to either sunlight or intense lighting conditions (outside or inside). Although still not solved, I was able to learn about the routes other researchers are investigating in an effort to address this problem of contrast. I hope that my research contributions during my tenure in the BME graduate program will also help develop solutions that will advance this area of science.

The plethora of research topics at the meeting provides a unique opportunity to expand my current breadth of knowledge into areas that I am less familiar with. I also participated in two courses offered at the meeting to help advance my knowledge associated with research interests, 1. Introduction to nonlinear optics, 2. Introduction to ultrafast optics. These courses were taught by some of the world’s leading experts in the respective fields, giving me personalized training on such topics. These opportunities were invaluable to my continued education. Drs. Robert Fisher and Rick Trebino, the professors for the nonlinear and ultrafast optics courses respectively, were extremely knowledgeable and presented the material well. These topics were exciting and intriguing, and stimulated my interest even further into the respective fields. Through these courses, I was able to develop a better understanding for the physical phenomena modeling associated with nonlinear characteristics and ultrafast pulses of light.

I attended the exposition in the latter portion of the meeting and was able to meet with industry researchers regarding technology that I currently use or will use in my laboratory. This was an essential part of the conference experience and really allowed me to understand what instrumentation exists and how I can apply it to my research. It was an excellent opportunity to see advances in the technology my lab already uses and what this means for future research and results. The Photonics West annual meeting is a great event for furthering my academic and professional career. I am thankful for the opportunity made possible through my funding sources including the H. E. Carter travel award, the NIH Cardiovascular training grant, and the ARCS foundation.