Patrick Kumavor

Assistant Professor in Residence

Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Kumavor research work focuses on the development of ultrasound/fiber optic imaging systems for in vivo imaging and detection of early-stage cancer. Pathological angiogenesis (abnormal rapid proliferation of blood vessels) is crucial for cancer growth and metastasis, by enabling oxygen and nutrients in the blood to be supplied to the growing tumor; tumor vascularization is therefore an important hallmark for the presence and stage of cancer. It turns out that blood has high absorption for near-infrared (NIR) light, and therefore yields excellent contrast when used to probe cancer tumor.

His research work entails the development of novel NIR-based imaging modalities using fiber optic technology for light delivery to the tumor area. To image tumors located deep inside tissue, he integrates ultrasound transducers into our optical systems to aid in signal detection through the photoacoustic effect in biological tissues. This allows him to circumvent the scattering of light in tissue that limits imaging to only shallow regions, to obtain diagnostic images of deep-seated tumors with excellent optical contrast at ultrasound resolution.