Project Website http://lbrc.mit.edu/research/collaborative-projects/phase-sensitive-optical-ima…
ase-resolved imaging not only provides label-free contrast for live cell imaging but also affords additional functional information such as cell mass, volume, and / or stiffness. This knowledge may be useful to answer questions as fundamental as cell growth and division to understanding the cellular basis of different human diseases such as malaria infection and sickle cell disease. The same tools can be used as label-free markers to study various mechanisms of drug action at single cell level. Phase-resolved illumination/sensing can also be used to characterize the scattering properties of turbid media. This information may be further used to enhance light delivery into biological tissue and/or to reliably retrieve optical information by suppressing multiple light scattering.
Ongoing projects include:(*) Biomechanics and biochemistry of malaria-infected erythrocytes(*) Biomechanics of erythrocytes in sickle cell anemia(*) Size homeostasis in adherent cells(*) Phases of chondrocyte enlargement in skeletal growth(*) Role of nuclear mechanics in laminopathies