Biomedical Optics & the Value of Quantum Level Imaging in Medicine

by Dr Brian Pogue (Robert A. Pritzker Professor of Biomedical Engineering Dartmouth College)

Thursday 22 Oct 2026, 16:00 → 17:30 Europe/Lisbon

PA1 e PA2 (Piso -1, Edifício de Matemática, Instituto Superior Técnico, Campus Alameda

Optics is the single largest technology sector in medicine today, with successes broadly across nearly all medical specialties, especially in point-of-care, homecare and as diagnostic detector components. Advances in camera technology have had an enormous influence, especially in areas such as robotic surgery, advanced displays, and molecular sensing. There is a significant potential opportunity in monitoring technologies and advances in sensors. In particular, quantum-level sensors that read out single-photon events per pixel have transformed x-ray imaging and radiation Cherenkov imaging, and have important value for features such as depth sensing or lifetime-based imaging.  The example of developing Cherenkov imaging to visualize radiation dose in humans undergoing radiotherapy will be reviewed, with technical innovations, entrepreneurial development into a successful medical device, and future prospects for advancement.