Event
Bioengineering Seminar Series: Giuliano Scarcelli
Friday, December 11, 2015
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
Pepco Room (1105), Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building
Dr. Christopher Jewell
cmjewell@umd.edu
Giuliano Scarcelli
Assistant Professor
Fischell Department of Bioengineering
University of Maryland
Brillouin microscopy to image tissue and cell mechanical properties
Mechanical moduli of biological tissues and polymers are critically involved in various biological and engineering processes, such as disease progression, aging, tissue and cell engineering, drug delivery, as well as bonding and micro fabrication. However, it has been difficult to measure the material properties that are heterogeneous in three-dimensional (3D) space and may vary over time, as this requires a noncontact noninvasive technique with high spatiotemporal resolution. Here we introduce biomechanical optical imaging based on Brillouin light scattering mediated by acoustic phonons inherently present in material. Measuring the frequency shift and linewidth of Brillouin spectrum allows determining the viscoelastic properties of the material. In the past few years, we have developed a multistage parallel spectrometer with high spectral resolution (sub-GHz), 80-dB extinction and several-orders-of-magnitude higher throughput efficiency than conventional scanning interferometers. The first area of biomedical applications we have investigated is ophthalmology where Brillouin microscopy enable measuring changes in corneal and lens elasticity by aging, by the progression of disease, or in response to treatment and drugs. We are now transitioning to the characterization of intracellular and extracellular elasticity.
About the Speaker
Giuliano Scarcelli is a physicist specialized in optical science and technology development. He obtained his PhD in quantum optics from UMBC under Prof. Yanhua Shih. Before joining College Park, Giuliano was at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine of Harvard Medical School for eight years, first as a postdoc in Prof. Yun's Lab, then as an instructor and assistant professor. He maintains a visiting faculty position at Harvard Medical School. Giuliano's articles have been cited over a 1000 times and he is inventor of five patents. Giuliano has been the recipient of several awards such as the EU outgoing PhD fellowship, the Harvard-Tosteson Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Human Frontier Science Program Young Investigator Award, the NIH Quantitative Career Award.
