Abstract

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and computational imaging are reshaping the way we visualize and quantify biological systems. Quantitative phase imaging (QPI), in particular, provides label-free, nanoscale-sensitive contrast, with pixel values directly tied to intrinsic cellular properties, making it an ideal modality for generating high-fidelity training data for AI-driven biological analysis.

In this talk, I will highlight our recent efforts to fuse computational tools with next-generation QPI hardware. We developed artificial confocal microscopy, a label-free 3D imaging approach that delivers confocal-like axial resolution and molecular specificity in complex biological structures such as spheroids and organoids. Building on this platform, we introduced an AI-driven method for evaluating embryo health by integrating multimodal imaging data.

I will also present our integration of QPI with multiphoton microscopy for deep in vivo tissue imaging. To address the challenges of high-resolution label-free deep imaging in the mouse brain, we developed Scattering-Enabled Epi Quantitative Phase Imaging (SEEQPI), a technique that combines long-wavelength illumination, confocal sectioning, and phase-shifting interferometry to achieve deep tissue penetration with enhanced contrast. SEEQPI’s laser-scanning, common-path architecture ensures stable, high-sensitivity phase measurements at low excitation powers, significantly reducing photodamage and enabling longitudinal imaging studies in live murine models.

About Xi (Dawn) Chen

Xi Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. Her lab develops next-generation optical imaging modalities and computational algorithms to study a wide range of living systems, including cell cultures, organoids, tissues, and live animals. Prior to joining Northwestern, Dr. Chen was a K99/R00 awardee at Cornell University, where she worked in Dr. Chris Xu’s group on three-photon imaging. She completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Dr. Gabriel Popescu’s Quantitative Light Imaging Laboratory. Dr. Chen earned her Ph.D. in 2019 from the University of Miami, where she studied light propagation and scattering in complex media in Dr. Olga Korotkova’s lab.

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