Speaker: Lisa Kobayashi (ICFO, Spain)

Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) is an established diffuse optical method which non-invasively measures regional, microvascular blood flow from laser speckles.  Although the utility of DCS has been demonstrated in clinical trials relating to a variety of clinical conditions, limited signal to noise have restricted the use of DCS to measure, for example, through hair or blood flow in very deeper tissue.  Recently, another diffuse optical technique closely related to DCS, speckle contrast optical spectroscopy (SCOS), has been gaining interest due to its ability to overcome the limitations of DCS by measuring laser speckle intensity statistics using detector arrays.  In this talk, I will discuss advances made to push the boundaries of DCS and SCOS techniques by using pulsed lasers at longer wavelengths (beyond 1000 nm) and state-of-the art superconducting nanowire arrays.

ICFO is partner of the EIC Pathfinder project fastMOT. The project aims to develop an innovative light sensing solution, a fast gated, ultra-high quantum efficiency single-photon sensor, to enable multifunctional deep body imaging with diffuse optics. With its Multifunctional Optical Tomograph (MOT) the project partners will be able to image deep organ and optical structures and monitor body functions including oxygenation, haemodynamics, perfusion and metabolism.