For her accelerated master's thesis, Visible light wavefront sensorless adaptive optics optical coherence tomography, Christine Huang developed a multi-modal imaging system to visualize structures in the retina at high resolution.

Her research focused on retinal imaging of the mouse eye at high resolution using a technique known as wavefront sensorless adaptive optics. Adaptive optics is used to correct the irregularities introduced from the eye, which inhibit the performance of an imaging system. By using an adaptive optical element, the wavefront of light guided to the eye can be corrected such that a diffraction limited focus is achieved on the retina, enabling visualization of structures in micrometer resolution.

Huang’s supervisor, Dr. Marinko Sarunic, commends Huang’s work. “She demonstrated excellent abilities in designing and building complex optical systems, understanding physics concepts, and systems control of state-of-the-art opto-electronics in the setup. Her research resulted in exquisite images of fluorescently labeled microglia and ganglia in the retina, and is in preparation for submission to a biomedical optics journal.”

Furthermore, Sarunic recognizes that Huang is an inspiration. “Christine’s all round ability is outstanding. In a male-dominated research field, Christine’s outstanding academic ability, experimental skills, and mentorship are particularly noticeable. She has demonstrated that she is an excellent role model for other women interested in engineering careers.”

Since completing in January 2018, Huang is now working for a company in Vancouver as a research engineer. The company is focused in developing laser based high dynamic range projector systems.