10/31/2024
By Pamela Morel
Presenter: Cecil Joseph, Associate Teaching Professor, Physics and Applied Physics Department, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Date/Time: November 8, 2024 at 1 p.m. EST
This is a virtual meeting. Please email: Pamela_Morel@uml.edu for the Zoom link 72 hours prior to the seminar.
Abstract:
Initial interest in biomedical applications for terahertz imaging was driven by the intrinsic contrast observed between normal and cancerous tissue at terahertz frequencies. Contrast mechanisms were not well understood, and tissue water content differences were expected to dominate the interaction of terahertz radiation with tissue. Our initial results on human skin, however, indicated that scattering of light at terahertz frequencies was observable and responsible for observed contrast. We also expanded the investigation with different tissue types. In this talk, I will present the main results of our investigations on a skin and colorectal cancers and also other potential avenues that we had started exploring, including applications of time-domain terahertz systems for biomedical applications.
Biosketch:
Cecil received his BS in Physics (with honors) from St. Stephen's College, Delhi (2002) and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2010. His doctoral research was conducted under Robert Giles, Ph.D. at the Submillimeter-Wave Technology Laboratory on biomedical applications of continuous-wave terahertz radiation. Cecil joined the Department of Physics Faculty in Fall 2017 and is currently an associate teaching professor. His current interests include active learning strategies to improve student outcomes for large introductory physics courses and investigating pedagogical changes to improve the assessment of student learning.