Institute of Imaging and Biomedical Photonics

Current Status

The Institute of Imaging and Biomedical Photonics was founded in 2009. The ultimate mission is to train the students to become competent professionals at the level of the Master’s degree and beyond, who specialize in imaging and biomedical photonics, for the insufficient R&D human resources highly demanded by the current and future relevant industry and academia. The Institute aims to excel by the following strategies:

1.   To foster young talents with a strong basic and applied science background in imaging and biomedical photonics, the graduate students are provided with solid training through the common core courses (i.e., Electro-Optics, Optical Electronics, and Photonies Laboratory) as well as two course branches—advanced and applied courses. Many opportunities are also available for the students enrolled in the program to obtain interdisciplinary photonics education in order for them to become photonics professionals and leaders of the future with a global vision.

2.    The Institute is dedicated to the promotion of collaboration with industry, establishment of core technology of imaging and biomedical photonics, and nurture of R&D elite highly needed for the information display and biomedical photonics industries.

3.   The Institute sets goals to carry out advanced and distinct photonics studies in collaboration with nearby research institutions including Taiwan CAR Lab, Shalun Green Energy Technology Demonstration Site of Industry Technology Research Institute, Southern region campus of Academia Sinica, National Green Energy Technology Joint Research Center, Metal Industries Research & Development Centre, Tainan Service Division of the National Nano Device Laboratories, Tainan Service Division of National Center for High-performance Computing, and companies located in Southern Taiwan Science Park. In addition, our faculty members are devoted to research in biomedical electronics and biophotonics in close collaboration with domestic medical centers such as Chi Mei Medical center, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Cheng Gung Memorial Hospitals, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, E-Da Hospital, Changhua Christian Hospital, China Medical University Hospital, etc.

The imaging and biomedical photonics faculty currently comprises seven full-time members, two joint-appointment professors. Every year the Institute admits 30 graduate students to enter the M.S. program through both applications and entrance examinations.

Features

The research field is classified into two subfields: imaging photonics and biomedical photonics, with the subfield of biomedical photonics further divided into two domains. The three featured research domains are: 1. Imaging and display technologies; 2. Biophotonic sensing; 3. Bionic photonics technology. Each focus domain is composed of several academic and industry-academic co-op research areas as shown in the figure. The closely related research laboratories managed by the current full-time faculty include Biomedical Systems Laboratory (Bor-Shyh LIN, CM230), Adaptive Photonics Laboratory (Shean-Jen CHEN, CM 438), Nano Materials and Solar Energy Laboratory (Wei-Shiuan TSENG, CM 439), Biophotonic Sensing Laboratory (Yi-Chun CHEN, CM516), Nanophotonics Laboratory (Kuo-Ping CHEN, CM518), Liquid Crystal Photonics Laboratory (Wei LEE, CM538), and Liquid Crystal Applications Laboratory (Shie-Chang JENG, CM539).

The College-level research center; i.e., NCTU Joint Lab for Biomedical Research is primarily taken charge of by the imaging and biomedical photonics faculty. The Joint Lab has been aggressively working on cooperative projects sponsored by the domestic medical centers since the Institute was established, to develop advanced and key photonic technologies for medical imaging and smart healthcare purposes by fabricating digital electronic, medical imaging devices based on the existing display panel technology.

The students are allowed to find their thesis advisors affiliated with the other institutes at the College and get enrolled in classes offered by the other programs within the College for their graduate credits. This flexibility provides a unique opportunity for the students to gain interdisciplinary knowledge.

As for the curriculum design, the imaging and biomedical photonics program offers about 6 advanced courses and 7 applied photonics courses each academic year in addition to the common (or college-wide) required core courses Electro-Optics, Optical Electronics, and Photonies Laboratory. These courses are designed for the students registered in this graduate program and also for those from the other institutes.