Contacts

• Director: Prof David Sampson <dsampson@ee.uwa.edu.au>
• Secretary: <obeladmin@ee.uwa.edu.au>
• Website: http://obel.ee.uwa.edu.au/
  

Overview

The Optical+Biomedical Engineering Laboratory (OBEL) conducts research in biomedical engineering at the interfaces of optics, photonics, biology, biotechnology, and medicine; a field often termed "Biomedical Optics" or "Biophotonics". The group's research is directed towards new optical techniques and applications in medicine and the life sciences, with emphasis on biomedical imaging (opticalcoherence tomography, holography and multiphoton microscopy), optical biopsy (propagation of diffuse light in tissues), and the therapeutic use of lasers. A major research theme is the use of light to diagnose pathology and monitor physiological parameters in living humans. Projects range from fundamental investigations of new microscopic imaging techniques to the development of instrumentation and its application in a clinical environment.

Achievements

Current Research Projects

• ARC Discovery 2004-2006 ($375, 000): imaging of properties of coherent elastic light scattering from turbid biological media;
• NH&MRC Development 2005/2006 ($184,250): Dynamic in Vivo Size and Shape Measurement of the Human Upper Airway using Endoscopic Long-range Optical Coherence Tomography;
• Raine Priming 2005-2006 ($187,114) and UWA research grant 2005 ($20,000): Fourier Holographic Optical Scatter Imaging for Diagnosis of Early-Stage Cancers