Seeing Anywhere in the Brain Through a Hair-Thin Glass Fibre

Holographic control of light propagation turns hair-thin multimode fibres into minimally invasive microscopes reaching anywhere in the brain. I will review the physics and technology, and present in-vivo applications, including chronic and confocal imaging and blood-flow measurements.

About the Speaker

Tomáš Čižmár is a professor of Wave Optics at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and head of the Fibre Research and Technology department at the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT) in Jena. He leads the Holographic Endoscopy group at Leibniz-IPHT and the Complex Photonics group at the Institute of Scientific Instruments of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Brno. A physicist by training, he has worked throughout his career on interdisciplinary projects in biomedical photonics, mostly related to optical manipulation, digital holography and microscopy. His current research focuses on photonics in optically random environments, particularly multimode fibres, and on minimally invasive deep-tissue imaging in vivo. He is a co-founder of DeepEn GmbH, which develops holographic endoscopes for neuroscience research.

Beyond Image Accuracy: Engineering Trustworthy Clinical Decision Systems for Decentralized Healthcare

Advances in optical imaging and artificial intelligence are expanding access to diagnostic capabilities beyond specialized healthcare settings. Yet reliable clinical decisions require more than accurate images and algorithms. Drawing on lessons from cervical cancer prevention, this talk introduces an engineering framework that connects trustworthy information generation, AI reliability and context-specific clinical decision-making. It explores how real-world variability can inform the continuous improvement of imaging technologies and clinical workflows, enabling more reliable and accessible healthcare across diverse populations.

About the Speaker

Nirmala “Nimmi” Ramanujam is the Robert W. Carr Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University and founder of the Center for Global Women’s Health Technologies. She brings engineers, clinicians and communities together to develop cancer technologies that address unmet needs, particularly for women underserved by healthcare systems.

Her research spans the cancer care continuum, from portable imaging, artificial intelligence and digital health tools for cervical cancer screening to localized immune therapies and metabolic imaging approaches for breast cancer. Her cervical cancer innovations are advancing beyond the laboratory through clinical implementation in Peru and Kenya, expanding access to care closer to women’s communities.

Central to her work is the belief that meaningful innovation begins with the people experiencing the problem. She also leads experiential education programs that prepare future innovators to design with communities. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering member, National Academy of Inventors and Fulbright Scholar.