The University Community and Public are invited to bring their brown bag lunch and meet two of the University’s rising stars at noon on July 9, 2009 in the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion:

Jason Porter, College of Optometry,
“Adaptive Optics”

Clinicians and vision scientists have known for centuries that human vision is degraded by the eye’s poor optical quality. Even when wearing conventional glasses or contact lenses, our eyes still suffer from subtle optical imperfections that not only limit our ability to see fine detail in the outside world, but also limit the ability of clinicians and vision scientists to look inside normal and diseased eyes with fine detail. We use adaptive optics, the same technology used by ground-based telescopes to take clear images of outer space through Earth’s turbulent atmosphere, to correct for the eye’s optical imperfections and acquire images with unprecedented resolution. Adaptive optics imaging now allows for the routine examination of single cells in living eyes, providing a non-invasive, microscopic view of the living retina that could previously only be obtained in excised tissue. The ability to see cellular structures in the living eye provides the opportunity to better understand normal retinal structure and function while potentially enhancing our ability to earlier detect and diagnose retinal diseases and track the progression and efficiency of disease treatments. We will highlight some of the scientific discoveries that adaptive optics has made possible, and will also discuss the development of an adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope in our lab at the College of Optometry.

and

Kirill Larin, Cullen College of Engineering
“Noninvasive Optical Imaging and Diagnostics of Tissues and Cells”

Development of novel methods for functional imaging, monitoring and quantification of different biological processes in tissues, small organs, and cells has gained tremendous interest in view of the varied applications of Biomedical Optics. This talk will overview recent developments in functional imaging of different tissues and cells with several low-coherence interferometry (LCI) methods developed at the University of Houston, including noninvasive monitoring of drug diffusion and optical clearing, detection and assessment of microbubbles in tissues and blood, early diagnostics of arteriosclerosis, imaging of early embryonic cardiovascular system development, and depth-resolved fingerprint recognition. Additionally, recent progress in development of minimally-invasive glucose biosensor, based on unique micro-retroreflector technology, will be discussed.

Cookies and beverages compliments of the University Libraries. This free event is co-sponsored by the Faculty Senate. For more details, please review the attached sheet or call the Faculty Senate Office at 713-743-9181.