Faculty Affairs and Academic Programs
Fei Xia
Engineering and Computer Science
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
UC Irvine
Live Biopsy Microscope: Label-Free, Real-Time Disease Diagnosis for Accessible Precision Medicine
Timely and accurate diagnosis determines patient treatment and profoundly influences survival and quality of life. Yet conventional pathology relies on invasive biopsies, chemical staining, and lengthy tissue preparation before a pathologist can view results under a microscope. This process can take days, requires specialized facilities, and may alter or damage tissue. These challenges are especially significant in urgent surgical settings, where clinicians need immediate feedback, and in clinics or low-resource environments where pathology infrastructure is limited. Label-free “optical biopsy” offers a transformative alternative by visualizing 3D living tissue without staining or sectioning, preserving its natural biochemical and structural features. This approach uses intrinsic light signals, such as autofluorescence from molecules like NADH, to reveal tissue health and disease in real time. This project will develop a Live Biopsy Microscope (LBM), a proof-of-concept imaging platform enabling real-time, label-free diagnostic assessment at cellular resolution. Building on my lab’s established deep tissue multiphoton imaging expertise, we will integrate advanced optical imaging with virtual staining methods through collaboration with UC colleagues in computational modeling and clinical pathology. Partnerships with UCSC (for image translation modeling) and UCI Health (for pathology validation) ensure immediate feasibility and broad systemwide impact. The LBM will yield a validated prototype, a publishable dataset, and foundational results for future extramural funding. This work advances UC’s mission to foster innovative, equitable healthcare solutions.
