SEMINAR

DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

Transcranial Photobiomodulation With Near infrared Light: a New Tool for Non-invasive Neurostimulation 

Dr. Hanli Liu, Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas - Arlington

Abstract

It has been well known that near infrared (NIR) can be used to non-invasively image functional activities of the human brain during cognitive tasks at different age groups, particularly for studying children and other vulnerable groups with neurological disorders. In addition, recent studies have demonstrated that NIR laser or light emitting diodes (LEDs) can be used for transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM), which may serve as a promising neuromodulation tool for treating a variety of neurological brain disorders in the near future.

In this talk, I will (1) introduce principles of light-brain interaction, (2) demonstrate experiments and results of tPBM with 1064-nm laser applied on human participants, (3) preliminary results of BOLD-signal increases near the tPBM stimulation site, and (4) significant alterations in tPBM-induced electrophysiological patterns across the human head, determined by 64-channel EEG measurements. The major goal of this talk intends to shed light on the mechanism of action of tPBM, which is a new form of transcranial neuromodulation.

Biography 

Dr. Hanli Liu is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of near infrared spectroscopy for cancer detection and functional brain imaging. She received her MS and PhD degrees in physics from Wake Forest University, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Full Professor of Bioengineering and Distinguished University Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. She is also a Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Her expertise lies in the field of near-infrared spectroscopy of tissues, functional optical brain imaging, transcranial photobiomodulation, and their clinical applications. In recent years, Dr. Liu has extended her research expertise in measurements and data analysis of 64-channel electroencephalography (EEG) for monitoring transcranial photobiomodulation (or called neuromodulation), which has the great potential to become a non-invasive therapeutic tool to treat neurological diseases in the near future. Over the last 20+ years, Dr. Liu has (1) obtained external research funding in the field of optical imaging and brain stimulation more than $10M, (2) published over 130 peer-reviewed journal papers and 135 conference abstracts, and (3) been invited to deliver more than 60 scientific seminars nationally and internationally.