Creating new tools to uncover the brain and fight disease

The Medical Acoustics ＆ Photonics Laboratory (MAP Lab) led by Dr. Zhang at Tsinghua University focuses on developing next-generation multimodal medical imaging technologies by integrating acoustics, optics, electronics, and computation. Our mission is to advance the frontiers of biomedical imaging for human health.

We are building systems that visualize the human brain and body at multiple scales — from organ-level function to cellular microstructure — through innovations in ultrasound, photoacoustic, and hybrid imaging technologies.

Photoacoustic Computed Tomography: Photoacoustic tomography is changing the game by using “light in” to penetrate tissues and “sound out” to create detailed images of the brain and body. Our research focuses on tackling two big challenges in this field: imaging deep blood flow and imaging through the skull to see the human brain.

Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging: Ultrasound imaging works by sending “sound in” and getting “sound out” to create images of the body. Our research focuses on solving the tradeoff between frame rates and image quality to capture clearer ultrafast images, which is a major challenge in this field. We’ve also developed a wearable ultrafast ultrasound imager for the human brain in patients.

Multimodal Imaging System: Multimodal imaging uses both “light and sound in” to produce detailed “sound out” images of the brain and body. Our research focuses on designing and developing 3D imaging systems for the human body (brain) and 2D systems for small animal brains, combining photoacoustic and ultrasound technology to make significant breakthroughs in this field.

1. [Y. Zhang, S. Na, J. J. Russin], K. Sastry, L. Lin, J. Zheng, Y. Luo, X. Tong, Y. An, P. Hu, K. Maslov, T. W. Tan, C. Y. Liu*, &L. V. Wang*. Rotational ultrasound and photoacoustic tomography of the human body. Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2026.

2. H. K. Huang, J. Kuo, Y. Zhang, Y. Aborahama, M. Cui, K. Sastry, S. Park, U. Villa, L. V. Wang & M. A. Anastasio*. Fast aberration correction in 3D transcranial photoacoustic computed tomography via a learning-based image reconstruction method. Photoacoustics, 2025.

3. [Y. Zhang, J. O. Gibson], A. Khadria, L.V. Wang*. “Photoacoustic vector tomography for deep hemodynamic imaging.” Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2024.

4. K. Sastry, Y. Zhang, P. Hu, Y. Luo, X. Tong, S. Na, L. V. Wang*, A method for the geometric calibration of ultrasound transducer arrays with arbitrary geometries, Photoacoustics, 2023.

5. [S. Na, Y. Zhang], L.V. Wang*. “Cross-Ray ultrasound tomography and photoacoustic tomography of cerebral hemodynamics in rodents,” Advanced Science, 2022.

6. J. Dong, Y. Zhang, W.-N. Lee*, Walled vessel-mimicking phantom for ultrasound imaging using 3D printing with a water-soluble filament: design principle, fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulation, and experimental validation. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 2020.

7. Y. Zhang, H. Li, W.-N. Lee*. “Imaging heart dynamics with ultrafast cascaded-wave ultrasound,” IEEE Transactions on Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control, 2019.

8. Y. Zhang, Y. Guo, W.-N. Lee*. “Ultrafast ultrasound imaging with cascaded dual-polarity waves,” IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2018.

9. Y. Zhang, Y. Guo, W.-N. Lee*. “Ultrafast ultrasound imaging using combined transmissions with cross-coherence based reconstruction,” IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2018.

10. Y. Zhang, Z. Li*, “Improving the accuracy of time difference measurement by reducing the impact of baseline shift,” IEEE Transactions on Instrum. Meas., 2015.

Awards

2023 Best Paper Award，SPIE Photonics West

Patents

Y. Zhang, J. O. Gibson, and L.V. Wang. “Functional photoacoustic computed tomography of blood

flow,” US Patent application CIT-8841-P, 2022; CIT1P067US, 2023.

Y. Zhang, Y. Guo, and W.-N. Lee. “Ultrafast ultrasound imaging with cascaded dual-polarity

waves,” US patent 11,852,754, 2023.