This is the website for Biomedical Optics in
Taiwan, a program of the Dialogues of Civilization Program at
Northeastern University. Our goals for this summer are (1) to study
biomedical optics along with students and faculty at the National
Taiwan University for 4SH of credit as a Technical Elective, (2) to
study Taiwanese Culture for 4SH of credit as a social science or
humanities elective, and (3) to have the experience of living for five
weeks in Taipei and interacting with engineers and others in that
city.
(12 August 2014) Here's an interesting article about night markets in the San Gabriel Valley of California. http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/events/20140811/626-night-market-to-take-place-this-weekend-hours-have-been-extended.
(9 August 2014) Here's a map of today's trip. I'll post some pictures with it later.
(7 August 2014) The paper Joseph mentioned in class is posted at this link.
The homework for this week includes two computational tasks.
(5 August 2014) Three items of importance. First, here is our schedule updated yesterday by April. Second, here are some ideas for major projects. Basically they seem to divide into two categories.
Processing existing data: (1) contour tracking lung images, (2) spectral unmixing of hemoglobin in bone, (3) comparing 3-photon fluorescence to confocal reflectance in melanin.
Computational modeling: (1) Absorption in particles using extensions of Mie scattering. (2) Light propagation in bone using Monte-Carlo or diffusion equations (3) Detection of optical changes in tissue under ultrasound heating (4) Computational modeling of almost any imaging modality in the chart below.
Finally here is a list of optical imaging
modalities and some of their properties. Our goal in the last two
weeks of the course will be to fill in as much of this chart as
possible. We'll make use of a lot of what we learn this week and over
the past two. I'm giving you the spreadsheet because it might be
useful to complete it on your computer. I leave that up to you.
(4 August 2014) April has put her photos of the Yingge trip on
Dropbox. See
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uyr4pqrj8fv8e9e/AACI7eJGE5QrmoSiiM0b3xCba.
(4 August 2014) Here is the file to compute optical properties of
skin. For the homework, use the dermis properties for a single
(infinitely thick) layer. skin_opt.m
(3 August 2014) Our new location for all classes is the cafe at
84.6 Xinsheng Road Section 3. Don't try to put this address into
Google maps as it goes to the wrong place. Here is a map of walking
directions.
http://goo.gl/maps/fYwcR. There are two parallel stairways. Take
the one closest to the Adidas store and go to the third floor. There
is a glass sign that says "Idea Cafe" which is likely to be open.
(31 July 2014) Tomorrow our class is in 203 Ming Da (same building
as today but a different room). I will end promptly at noon. Please
yell at me if I do not. We have hired a bus for the Ying Ge pottery
trip, and it departs the hotel at 1:00 promptly. Please be on time.
(31 July 2014) Here is the promised Matlab function, bhmie.m If you want to use the online calculator,
it is at
http://omlc.org/calc/mie_calc.html. As I mentioned in class,
there is a wealth of information on this site. Look at the links on
the left of the page and you may want to bookmark the home
page. Another useful link,
http://refractiveindex.info has some good data on index of
refraction. If you want a material that is really absorbing, here's a
function that generates the complex index of refraction of melanin; melanin.m . As always, use the help function
(help melanin) for instructions, and of course feel free to ask if you
have questions. I didn't write this code for public consumption, and
I will admit that it isn't particularly "user friendly."
(30 July 2014) Jimmy found an announcement of this event, and
asked Christie for the location. She provided the website, thinking
that more of you might be interested. National Taiwan Science
Education
Center. It looks like an easy walk from Shilin Station on the
Red Line. Check their transportation page for bus lines. This might
be a good outing for this weekend.
(29 July 2014) The matlab and data files I used in class for the
spectroscopy talk are in bonespec.zip . Type
help bonespec1 for instructions. Let me know if anything isn't
clear. There are 3 data files; The differences are in the location of
the detector. P1 is 10 mm from the source, P2 is 15, and P3 is
20. The greater spacings should, as we discussed in class, sample at
greater depth.
(Mon, 28 July 2014) Here is the schedule for our trip to Yingge this coming Friday.
Thanks to April for making this happen.
(27 July 103) Remmber that we meet in 114 EE Building 2 on
Monday. I'll talk about spectroscopy. Let's plan to do the talks on
biology for Chapters 1 and 5 on Tuesday (about 1 hour for each
chapter), and 6 and 20 on Wednesday. I'll end the week talking about
light scattering in random media like biological tissue. I think
Thursday I'll introduce scattering from a single particle and then
build up to the strong multiple scattering that we find in tissue.
That's a slight revision of the original syllabus.
(22 July 103) Actually we learned today from Prof. Blundell that
this is Year 103 in Taiwan, so I'm posting with the correct date.
First, the Matlab file and a couple of required data files that I
discussed in class today are posted in the matlab
directory. Start Matlab in a directory with all these files and type
"hbh2o" and it should work.
I think I put up all the files needed. If it doesn't
work, let me known.
Second, Typhoon Matmo is due to arrive tomorrow and NTU
classes are cancelled. We'll plan to meet at the big table in the
lobby at 9:30 for the Optics class. We'll decide what to do about the
afternoon after we see what happens in the morning.
(20 July 2014) I'll post occasional comments and pictures Here.
(18 July 2014) Goodmorning! Get your boarding pass and check
your bags, and come through security. We are gathering at Gate B22
for our flight to SFO.
(17 July 2014) Tomorrow is our departure day. I'll see you all at
the airport, and we have a couple hours to hang out at SFO. If I
recall correctly, SFO has free wireless. When we arrive at TPE, each
of us will go through customs. After that, there is a currency
exchange where you may want to pick up some New Taiwan Dollars. When
we leave the controlled area, look for Stephanie, who will be holding
a CIEE sign. She has a bus to take us to the hotel and assist us with
checkin. Get a good night's sleep Saturday, and we'll meet in the
hotel lobby at 9:30AM Sunday to walk to orientation. Wear your
walking shoes then.
(15 July 2014) Joseph has arrived in Taiwan, and has a couple bits
of advice. First, bring snacks for the SFO flight. Second, do not get
any Taiwan currency before leaving (But I've already gotten some
before I heard this). Quoting Joseph, "I checked in SF and it would
have cost me $40 extra dollars (versus here) to change $200. There are
a couple currency exchange booths just past customs that we can use."
I will be arriving at Logan by subway, and should be in the United
Terminal at 6:20.
(10 July 2014) For those of you visiting a doctor in preparation
for the trip, I'm not going to give advice on immunizations, but if
you tell the doctor that you will be living in Taipei, possibly with
an occasional trip outside the city to other parts of Taiwan, you
should get good advice. For myself, I'm not getting anything special
for this trip.
Disability Resources: One of our students is registered
as a note-taker with the Disability Resource Center. If you need this
service and are connected to the DRC, let me know, and we can make it
happen.
(9 July 2014) Our travel information is posted
here. Note that flight numbers and times have changed a little
bit since we last discussed them. Plan to arrive at the airport by
6AM. You can obtain your own boarding pass and check baggage as
needed.
(26 June 2014) There is a tentative syllabus for each of the two
courses posted above.
(25 June 2014) Our contractor in Taipei will get us SIM cards for
our phones. If you want one let me know before Monday. For more
info, see phonecard.txt.
(18 Apr 2014) This is the beginning of the website for the
course. As I get them ready, I'll post the syllabus along with other
information and reminders. Plan to check here frequently for updates.
For the moment, I have the tentative schedule posted. Keep in mind
that it is still in planning. I'll add the missing details, and of
course things might change. We're looking forward to a great summer.
Getting Around. The subway:
Taipei Metro Map . Our station is Gongguan (on the Green line,
just like Northeastern)
Notes from pre-departure meeting
Packing List (Work in Progress)
Matlab help: Note that there is a Matlab TA available to help with
any Matlab problems. Check
https://gazette.coe.neu.edu/?q=content/mathworks-ta-office-hours-spring-2014
for hours.
ABOUT THE BACKGROUND: My favorite winter passtime is
skiing. I put this background together from a detail of a photograph
taken at Park City, in 2003. There are four copies in different
orientations so that the tracks (and more importantly, the brightness
levels) line up as the pattern repeats.
The campus: National Taiwan University
Lodging:
Taida Zunxian Huiguan