Seminar title

Computational Imaging Science for Three-Dimensional Photoacoustic Computed Tomography

Speaker

Dr. Seonyeong Park, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT), also known as 3D optoacoustic computed tomography (OAT), is a biomedical volumetric imaging technique that combines near-infrared optical excitation with acoustic detection, offering high optical contrast based on molecular absorption, along with high spatial resolution at the macroscopic scale. Despite these advantages, several fundamental issues remain. First, accurate image reconstruction is challenging due to incomplete measurement geometries and unknown and heterogeneous acoustic properties of in vivo tissues, with high-accuracy reconstruction often requiring substantial computational cost. Second, the quantification of image quality with respect to clinical relevance in PACT remains underexplored. These challenges highlight the need for both the development of methods to address them and an appropriate computational platform that enables systematic evaluation of the methods. This seminar presents computational imaging science techniques for 3D PACT developed over the past several years, which collectively span key components of the imaging pipeline within a computational domain. Specifically, the seminar introduces: (1) a virtual imaging framework that incorporates stochastic, anatomically and physiologically realistic object models for multiphysics-based simulations, enabling systematic evaluation of imaging methods under controlled and clinically relevant imaging conditions; (2) advanced image reconstruction methods, including physics-based and AI-driven approaches; and (3) an application of task-based image quality assessment that reveals the limitations of conventional image quality metrics. Together, these approaches establish a systematic and quantitative foundation for advancing 3D PACT imaging.

Bio

Seonyeong Park is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where she serves as a core faculty member. She received her B.S. degree in Electronics, Computer, and Telecommunication Engineering and her M.S. degree in Information and Communications Engineering from Pukyong National University, Korea, in 2011 and 2013, respectively. She earned her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2017. Following her doctoral studies, she was a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and later a postdoctoral research associate and a research scientist in the Department of Bioengineering at UIUC. Her current research interests include computational imaging science, virtual imaging, image reconstruction, and inverse problems, with applications in photoacoustic computed tomography. She received the Seno Medical Best Paper Award at SPIE Photonics West, Photons Plus Ultrasound: Imaging and Sensing in 2022 and 2026, as well as the 2022 Innovator Award from the Association for Women in Science-Chicago Area Chapter.