Research Areas

This project combines near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) with functional MRI (fMRI) to study brain function and hemodynamics non-invasively. The concurrent study has been used to validate several NIRS methods and has been a major factor in our efforts to develop more comfortable, adaptable NIRS probes. Recently, a novel method: Regressor Interpolation at Progressive Time Delays (RIPTiDe) was developed to use NIRS data recorded at superficial layer of the brain or peripheral sites (e.g. fingertip) to remove the physiological noise from fMRI BOLD signal, which leads to much accurate detection of resting state network.

The project is to develop effective protocol and tasks to establish real time neural feedback for subjects with drug abuse history using NIRS. The goal is to explore the possibility of using NIRS to monitor brain function to provide neural feedback for behavioral modification.

We have a number of projects underway to develop new types of MR compatible NIRS probes, and to construct inexpensive NIRS spectrometers for peripheral hemodynamic measurements.