Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering
Position: Research Associate (Postdoc)
ORCID: 0000-0003-3471-0986
T +43 1 0043 40400 17150
richard.haindl@meduniwien.ac.at
Keywords
Angiography; Bacterial Infections; Biofilms; Biomedical Engineering; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Machine Learning; Multimodal Imaging; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Optical Imaging; Organoids; Photoacoustic Techniques; Tomography, Optical Coherence
Research group(s)
- Haindl Group
Head: Richard Haindl
Research Area: Our research group works at the interface of photonics, optical engineering, bioinformatics, biomedical imaging, and host–pathogen interactions. We develop and apply advanced optical imaging techniques, including optical coherence tomography, photoacoustic imaging, and infrared microscopy, combined with computational analysis to investigate biological structures and processes, with a particular focus on infectious diseases, bacterial biofilms, and interactions with host tissues.
Members: - Leitgeb & Drexler Group
Research Area: Advancing biomedical optical imaging for a step change in medical diagnostics as well as in fundamental biological and medical research by developing cutting edge optical technologies combining strengths of different imaging modalities.
Members:
Research interests
I am a Principal Investigator at the Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna. My research lies at the interface of photonics, optical engineering, biomedical imaging, bioinformatics, and microbiology, with a focus on developing and applying advanced optical imaging technologies to investigate biological structures and processes.
A major focus of my current work is the study of infectious diseases and host–pathogen interactions. By combining optical coherence tomography (OCT), photoacoustic imaging, infrared microscopy, and computational analysis, we investigate bacterial organization, biofilm formation, extracellular matrix composition, and antibiotic tolerance. Our aim is to better understand the structural and biochemical mechanisms underlying microbial persistence and interactions with host tissues.
Beyond infectious diseases, my research includes the development of multimodal and functional imaging systems for preclinical applications, ranging from organoids and three-dimensional tissue models to ophthalmic imaging. A central objective is to integrate complementary imaging modalities to obtain structural, functional, and molecular information without relying on conventional labeling or destructive sample preparation.
Through interdisciplinary and international collaborations, we aim to bridge optical technology development with biological and medical research, enabling new ways to study complex biological systems and disease processes.
Techniques, methods & infrastructure
- Optical coherence tomography (OCT): Ultrahigh-resolution OCT, optical coherence microscopy (OCM), OCT angiography, Doppler OCT, and polarization-sensitive OCT
- Photoacoustic imaging: Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM/PAOM), multimodal OCT–photoacoustic systems, and visible to near-infrared imaging
- Infrared and molecular imaging: Mid-infrared microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and photothermal imaging
- Computational methods: Biomedical image processing, quantitative 3D analysis, machine and deep learning, and bioinformatics
- Biological models: Bacterial biofilms, mycobacteria, organoids, ex vivo tissue models, zebrafish, and other preclinical models
Grants
- VIRAL - Viral Infectiology Research with Advanced Laboratory models (2023)
Source of Funding: Medical University of Vienna, Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101046133 (ISIDORe)
Principal Investigator
Selected publications
- Wolfgang, M. et al. (2023) ‘Ultra-high-resolution optical coherence tomography for the investigation of thin multilayered pharmaceutical coatings’, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 643, p. 123096. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123096.
- Haindl, R. et al. (2023) ‘Visible light photoacoustic ophthalmoscopy and near-infrared-II optical coherence tomography in the mouse eye’, APL Photonics, 8(10). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0168091.
- Deloria, A.J. et al. (2021) ‘Ultra-High-Resolution 3D Optical Coherence Tomography Reveals Inner Structures of Human Placenta-Derived Trophoblast Organoids’, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 68(8), pp. 2368–2376. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/tbme.2020.3038466.
- Haindl, R. et al. (2020) ‘Functional optical coherence tomography and photoacoustic microscopy imaging for zebrafish larvae’, Biomedical Optics Express, 11(4), p. 2137. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1364/boe.390410.
- Wang, Z. et al. (2020) ‘NIR nanoprobe-facilitated cross-referencing manifestation of local disease biology for dynamic therapeutic response assessment’, Chemical Science, 11(3), pp. 803–811. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1039/c9sc04909f.