Fluorescence lifetime imaging has been widely used in microscopy to understand biochemical processes at a cellular level. Applications of lifetime imaging for macroscopic, whole-body applications have only emerged recently. In this talk, I will present theoretical and experimental work in our laboratory over the past 2 decades focused on developing techniques for fluorescence lifetime imaging in the presence of thick biological tissue. The talk will next focus on applications of whole-body lifetime imaging using targeted near infrared probes in preclinical models, including receptor quantification for cancer treatment, and preclinical imaging of cardiac disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The talk will also discuss recent developments and applications of lifetime imaging methods in clinical settings, particularly for contrast enhancement of tumor targeted probes. I will present our recent advances in the development of intraoperative lifetime imaging systems, and their application in the clinical setting for tumor identification in various types of solid cancer, including oral, bone and soft tissue, brain and liver cancers.
Dr. Anand Kumar is a physicist and engineer with training in optical physics, spectroscopy, optical communications and biomedical imaging. He is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and holds the Atchinson Family Chair in Otolaryngology and Head and Neck surgery at Mass Eye and Ear, where he also serves as the Director of the Mike Toth Head and Neck Cancer Research Center. Dr. Kumar’s laboratory is focused on the development and translation of novel biomedical optical techniques for preclinical and clinical applications. His group has advanced several novel theoretical and experimental methods for whole-body fluorescence lifetime imaging and demonstrated these methods for preclinical imaging of cancer metastasis, myocardial infarction, and Alzheimer’s disease, and for tumor contrast enhancement in clinical surgical settings.