Martin Le is currently in the 4th year of the Life Physics (Medical Physics Specialization) program at the University of Waterloo. Throughout his undergraduate studies and extracurricular activities, Martin has advanced his career aspirations by taking advantage of research and co-op opportunities related to medical physics and quantum computing.
Prior to attending university Martin worked in a healthcare environment and through that position was deeply affected by seeing the heavy burden that cancer places on people and their families. Although Martin was always interested in Physics, he wanted to find a program that would allow him to apply a strong foundation in the physical sciences to applications in medicine. The Life Physics (Medical Physics) program at the University of Waterloo was the perfect choice for him, thanks to Waterloo’s excellent reputation in Physics and its strong ties to local healthcare professionals.
Wanting to jump into medical physics as soon as possible, Martin began a co-op research project in his 2nd year under the supervision of Professor Parsin Haji-Reza, a Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Professor Haji-Reza invented and pioneered a novel imaging platform called photoacoustic remote sensing (PARS) microscopy. Working directly with Dr Haji-Reza, Martin’s co-op project focussed on the applications and development of this technology with applications to cancer treatment, particularly surgical oncology.
Cancerous tumours are often removed by surgical methods where they typically aim for negative margins. This means that the entire tumour is removed along with some healthy tissue surrounding the cancerous cells. Afterwards, histological reports can confirm whether the surgery was successful by showing that a healthy margin of tissue exists around the tumour. Unfortunately, this analysis can take several weeks.
Unfortunately for many, a gross total resection is not always possible (either because of the surgeon or because of the infiltrative/irregular nature of the tumour) and that means another surgery might have to take place.
Finding a way for surgeons to get real-time feedback during surgery would be a game-changer for cancer treatment, enabling surgeons to more accurately remove tumors and reducing the need for additional invasive surgeries.
This is the problem that PARS microscopy addresses. With this technique, a nanosecond excitation beam is focused into the target alongside a continuous-wave probe beam. Through thermo-elastic expansion, absorbed optical energy from the excitation pulse is converted to pressure, which then produces elasto-optic modulations and changes the intensity of the reflected probe beam. This non-invasive and absorption-based imaging technique is a promising method in many medical science applications.
While Martin is wrapping up his last year of undergraduate studies at the University of Waterloo, he wishes to explore more opportunities in various fields of Physics. He has absolutely loved the Medical Physics (PHYS 383) course taught by Dr. Ernest Osei, and is looking forward to continuing his position as a Quantum Optics Engineering Intern under the supervision of Prof. Thomas Jennewein and his QEYnet venture focusing on ultra-secure quantum encryption enabled by satellites.
As Martin has grown as a student and researcher, he has come to appreciate the curious nature of all physicists -
to find a fundamental question and ask “why” and “how
He believes that being a physicist means gaining experience as a problem-solver, which builds from layers of foundational knowledge with unique applications. This journey, for him and for future generations of students, will never be easy. But Martin knows it will be worth it in the end, just as it will for many others at Waterloo.
