Soundwaves That Shed New Light

An imaging technology 'listens' to the sound of light to study different biological phenomena

Junjie Yao
Junjie Yao sees his technology being used in research and clinical settings, from pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs, to surgeons removing cancerous tumors.

Call it a science fair for adults. On November 20, Duke inventions and companies started by faculty and students will be featured at the sixth annual 鈥樷 celebration. Duke Today introduces you to three of the inventor teams who were supported with financing and mentoring by Duke translational funds and incubators.

In December 2022, Junjie Yao made  with his technology that allows researchers to understand how glass frogs make themselves transparent. 

Using high-speed 鈥減hotoacoustic imaging,鈥 Yao and his colleagues discovered that these frogs make themselves transparent while they sleep by hiding their red blood cells inside their liver.

While certainly exciting, his work goes far beyond visualizing the innards of this elusive amphibian. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a technology that listens to the sound of light,鈥 Yao says. 鈥淪o, we shine light into the tissue, and we listen to the ultrasound generated in the process. By listening to the ultrasound of the light absorbed by different molecules, we can differentiate molecules from molecules. By listening to all the soundwaves, we鈥檙e able to study a lot of interesting biological phenomena.鈥

Yao sees his cutting-edge technology being used in research and clinical settings, whether by pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs, surgeons removing cancerous tumors, or doctors studying vascular disease or brain function, and more.

For example, imagine a breast cancer patient undergoing surgery to remove a tumor. The surgeon hopes they got it all and that the edges are clean. But the surgeon doesn鈥檛 know for sure until the lab report comes back. Through the use of high-speed photoacoustic imaging, they can put the excised cancer tissue under the microscope and quickly learn whether it鈥檚 all there.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to wait for the pathology result to come back in seven days. We can tell the surgeon right away if this is a clean cut or not,鈥 says Yao.

This can save the patient both stress and the thought of going back under the knife.

The technology differs from CT scans and MRIs in that it does not require dyes or contrasts. And unlike those technologies that image in millimeters, it can image in micrometers or about one-tenth the diameter of a strand of hair.

鈥淲e are putting together a design that can utilize the most efficient components and the most cost-effective designs, so we can make it more affordable by a large number of researchers and doctors.鈥

Junjie Yao

While portable 鈥 it can be moved from place to place via a small cart 鈥 there is still much product development needed to make it even more portable and affordable. Yao is in the process of raising additional funds, while also looking at the possibility of licensing the technology.

鈥淲e are putting together a design that can utilize the most efficient components and the most cost-effective designs, so we can make it more affordable by a large number of researchers and doctors,鈥 Yao says. 鈥淭hat is very important for us to make it more accessible to a broad range of people.鈥

Although he鈥檚 been at it for the last eight years, Yao鈥檚 research is nascent. For many technology startups, it could be a decade or more to bring an invention out of the lab.

Yao has secured seed grants of more than $200,000 in translational funding through the , run by , and the  program.

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