Im Lab

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Phone: 617-643-5679

Photonics, plasmonics and novel materials

Our lab develops novel devices and applications using state-of the art nanoplasmonic and photonic sensors. We also develop new materials to expand the utility of these sensors. Our vision is to bridge the fields of engineering and medicine for next-generation diagnostic technologies. Based on physics and basic in nature, our ultimate goal is clinical translation.

Recent Publications

  • Peterson HM, Chin LK, Iwamoto Y, Oh J, Carlson JCT, Lee H, Im H, Weissleder R Integrated Analytical System for Clinical Single-Cell Analysis. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2022;:e2200415 - PMID: 35508767 - DOI: 10.1002/advs.202200415

  • Leming M, Das S, Im H Construction of a confounder-free clinical MRI dataset in the Mass General Brigham system for classification of Alzheimer's disease. Artif Intell Med. 2022;129:ePub - DOI: 10.1016/j.artmed.2022.102309

  • Oh HK, Kim K, Park J, Im H, Maher S, Kim MG Plasmon color-preserved gold nanoparticle clusters for high sensitivity detection of SARS-CoV-2 based on lateral flow immunoassay. Biosens Bioelectron. 2022;205:114094 - PMID: 35202985 - PMCID: PMC8851749 - DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2022.114094

  • Kwon S, Kim S, Giovannucci EL, Hidalgo M, Markey MK, Bovik AC, Kwon MJ, Kim KJ, Im H, Park JY, Bang S, Park SW, Song SY, Chung MJ Lewis Antigen Phenotype and Survival of Patients With Pancreatic Cancer. Pancreas. 2020;49(10):1348-1354 - PMID: 33122524 - DOI: 10.1097/MPA.0000000000001687

  • Min J, Allen M, Castro CM, Lee H, Weissleder R, Im H Computational Optics for Point-of-Care Breast Cancer Profiling. Methods Mol Biol. 2022;2393:153-162 - PMID: 34837178 - DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1803-5_8

  • More publications ...

Research projects

Nanoplasmonic sensing


  • Multiplexed exosome analysis
  • Single molecular detection
Microholography


  • Advanced photonics diagnostics
  • Integrated portable imaging system
Nanospectroscopy


  • Chip-based nano-spectroscopy sensing
  • Integrated with deep learning-based data analysis
Nanophotonics


  • Next-generation optical sensing system
  • High-throughput, low-cost chip fabrication
Nano-plasmonic sensors

In the past, we have developed nanoplasmonic sensing systems (nPLEX/NPS) for exosome analysis in cancer. Ongoing projects are in the fields of highly multiplexed exosome analysis as well as for single molecule analysis.

The nPLEX sensor was highlighted as one of the greatest hits among 20 years of Nature Biotechnology biomedical research.
  • Yang KS*, Im H*, Hong S*, Pergolini I, Del Castillo AF, Wang R, Clardy S, Huang CH, Pille C, Ferrone S, Yang R, Castro CM, Lee H, Del Castillo CF, Weissleder R. Multiparametric plasma EV profiling facilitates diagnosis of pancreatic malignancy. Sci Transl Med. 2017;9(391):eaal3226 – PMID: 28539469.
  • Im H*, Shao H*, Park YI, Peterson VM, Castro CM, Weissleder R*, Lee H*. Label-free detection and molecular profiling of exosomes with a nano-plasmonic sensor. Nature Biotechnol. 2014;32(5):490-5 – PMID: 24752081