Mechanical Engineering
 

Eric Seibel - Research Associate Professor

B.S.      1983 Mechanical Engineering, Cornell University
M.S.      1984 Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D.     1996 Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle

Contact Information

Human Photonics Laboratory
Phone: 206-616-1486
Fax: 206-543-5380
Office: Fluke 215
Email: eseibel@u.washington.edu
Alternate Website: http://www.hitl.washington.edu/people/eseibel

Biography

Dr. Seibel received undergraduate and master degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and University of California, Berkeley, respectively. After working 4 years in the medical (ophthalmic) device industry, Eric designed and developed laser scanning microscopes for live tissue imaging for his doctorate from the University of Washington's Department of Bioengineering in 1996. As a Research Scientist at the Human Interface Technology Lab, UW, Eric invented the scanning fiber endoscope which has received funding from WTC, NCI, NSF, and PENTAX Corporation. Since 2001 as research faculty at UW, Eric has co-developed an optical projection tomography microscope with VisionGate Inc. with funding from WTC and NCI. Currently, Dr. Seibel is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, adjunct in Bioengineering, and Director of the Human Photonics Lab at UW.

Research Program

Multidisciplinary research program that develops novel instrumentation based on optical scanning for image acquisition and display. All research projects involve UW innovations with application in the biomedical device and instrumentation fields, with specific focus on the early detection and treatment of cancer and pre-cancer.

1) Ultrathin and flexible scanning fiber endoscope (SFE) and bronchoscope for the early detection and treatment of cancers within the body. The goal is to advance minimally invasive medical imaging by using ultrathin flexible endoscopes that allow access to regions of the body that were previously inaccessible. Once at a region of interest, imaging, diagnosis, therapy, and monitoring can be performed from the SFE with the goal of earlier and less-invasive treatment of cancers in the more peripheral lung and pancreas. The main attributes of the SFE technology are:
Selected publications with several US Patents issued:
Seibel, E.J. and Smithwick, Q. Y. L (2002). Unique features of optical scanning, single fiber endoscopy. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, 30(3), 177-183.

Smithwick, Q.Y.J., Reinhall, P.G., Vagners, J., Seibel, E.J. (2004) A nonlinear state space model of the resonating single fiber scanner for tracking control: theory and experiment. ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, 126, 88-101. Won 2004 BEST PAPER AWARD for the Journal, determined by ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Honors Committee in November 2004.

Brown, C.M., Reinhall, P.G., Karasawa, S., and Seibel, E.J. (2006) Optomechanical design and fabrication of resonant microscanners for a scanning fiber endoscope, Optical Engineering, 45, 043001.

Seibel, E.J., Johnston, R.S., and Melville, C.D. (2006) A full-color scanning fiber endoscope, Optical Fibers and Sensors for Medical Diagnostics and Treatment Applications VI, edited by I. Gannot, Proc. of SPIE, vol. 6083, 608303.

Yoon, W.J., Reinhall, P.G., and Seibel, E.J. (2007) Analysis of electro active polymer bending: a component in a low cost ultrathin scanning endoscope. Sensors and Actuators A 133: 506-517.

Seibel, E.J., Carroll, R.E., Dominitz, J.A., Johnston, R.S., Melville, C.D., Lee, C.M., Seitz, S.M., and Kimmey, M.B. (2008) Tethered-Capsule Endoscopy, a low-cost and high-performance alternative technology for the screening of esophageal cancer and Barrett's esophagus. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 55, No. 3, March 2008.

Seibel, E.J., Brown, C.M., Dominitz, J.A. and Kimmey, M.B. (in press) Scanning Single Fiber Endoscopy: A new platform technology for integrated laser imaging, diagnosis, and future therapies. Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Clinics of North America.


2) Volumetric (3D) optical imaging of individual cells and nuclei for the earliest detection of cancerous and pre-cancerous conditions, infectious diseases, and effect of drug therapies. In most pathological and cytological analyses, tissue biopsies and cells are imaged in vitro (outside the body) using standard optical microscopes and absorption-based stains. Although cells and nuclei are three-dimensional, this standard imaging technique is only two-dimensional with only one viewing perspective. The development of the Optical Projection Tomography Microscope (OPTM) has allowed 180-degree viewing of individual cells and nuclei at submicron spatial resolution that is isometric. Three-dimensional features are more easily recognized and quantitatively measured using the OPTM, such as the volume, 3D-shape, surface area, surface texture, and 3D features of nuclear invaginations can be used as more sensitive classifiers for earlier conditions of cancer and pre-cancer. This collaborative work with VisionGate Inc. was started by funding from the Washington Technology Center and subsequently the National Cancer Institute.
Selected publication:
Fauver, M., Seibel, E.J., Rahn, J.R., Meyer, M.G., Patten, F.W., Neumann, T., and Nelson, A.C. (2005) Three-dimensional imaging of single isolated cell nuclei using optical projection tomography. OSA Optics Express, 13(11), 4210-4223. Note, the cover figure for the May 30, 2005 issue of this peer-reviewed multimedia web journal is from the article. www.opticsexpress.org

Seibel, E.J. (2007, presentation 9/19/07) Novel approaches in optical imaging and visualization of early cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment, Frontiers in Optics 2007/Laser Science XXIII Conference, San Jose, CA, 16-20 Sept 2007, Optical Society of America published summary paper #FWW3.


3) True 3D Display that mimics the natural conditions of depth perception by adding both accommodative cues as well as stereographic cues. All electronic 3D displays rely on the strong stereoscopic cue of retinal disparity using left and right-eye views. However, standard 3D displays have two display screens at a fixed focal depth, so when the eyes converge to fuse the left and right images together the eyes naturally shift focus making the image out-of-focus or the conflicting cues can cause viewer fatigue. In contrast, the UW True 3D Display allows for the full range of accommodation even for young children. The 1st generation true 3D display was fabricated and tested using a 3-year gift from the Intel Corporation. The 2nd generation 3D display is being developed under a grant from the National Science Foundation, Major Research Instrumentation program.
Selected publications:
Schowengerdt, B.T. and Seibel, E.J., (2006) True 3D scanned voxel displays using single and multiple light sources. Journal of the Society for Information Display, 14(2), 135-143.


4) Assistive technologies based on retinal light scanning, past and present.

a) An interactive virtual retinal display combines a laser-scanned display with high-accuracy head or object tracking using scanned infrared light, see Chinthammit, W., Seibel, E.J., Furness, T.A. (2002) Unique shared-aperture display with head or target tracking. IEEE Virtual Reality VR2002 (winning one of the best paper awards for the conference), 247-254.
b) A wearable low vision aid using a fiber scanning display with machine vision hazard detection system, see Bryant, R.C., Seibel, E.J., Lee, C.M., Schroder, K.E. (2004) Low-cost wearable low vision aid using a handmade retinal light scanning microdisplay, Journal of the SID (Society for Information Display), 12(4), 397-404.