Two CSUCI faculty members receive grant from National Science Foundation to streamline imaging for science and medicine

Camarillo, Calif. (Oct. 10, 2022)—If a doctor wants to get a closer look at a tumor inside of a patient, or if scientists want to get a detailed image of a plant, animal or inanimate structure, scientists and doctors frequently rely on sophisticated imaging devices. 

Powering some of the most sophisticated imaging devices are ions. Working to make ion sources even more efficient, accessible, and able to handle large amounts of data are CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Assistant Professor of Computer Science Scott Feister, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of Mathematics Alona Kryshchenko, Ph.D. 

“If you want create a beam of radiation to take a picture of something you can’t see with the naked eye, you could use an ion source,” Feister explained. “There are instruments around the world that create and use ions in this way. The ions offer a source of ‘lighting’ for the picture, the way a flashbulb is used to offer a source of lighting for photos.” 

Kryshchenko and Feister just received $112,480 from National Science Foundation (NSF) as a continuation of a grant to support their research project, “Enhancing Laser Based Ion Sources with High Data Rate Techniques.” 

As a mathematician, Kryshchenko’s role in the project is to use the data science to help scientists accelerate the process and tighten the focus and control. Part of the process involves using statistical estimates and mathematical formulas to facilitate “machine-learning,” which is the process of teaching a computer to “learn” somewhat the way a human would learn.  

“Dr. Kryshchenko is able to understand, at a math level, the enormous amount of data we are able to gather in science experiments — it’s called ‘high data rate’ science,” explained Feister. “We are moving away from an approach where we take small amounts of data, with humans examining every detail we capture. Now, we are taking a large amount of data and letting machines understand what we are seeing.” 

The NSF project is a collaboration between CSUCI, the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, and researchers from various other institutions.  

Feister and Kryshchenko have been working with laboratories in Dayton and in labs in some of the other cooperating universities such as The Ohio State University and Miami University. 

“There are only a few labs in the world successfully working with these extremely high data rates to study ions created by lasers,” Feister said. “Of those, the highest data rates are happening at the Air Force lab in Ohio. We are pushing the limits of laser-based ion sources.” 

Five CSUCI students are involved with the project. They are currently combing scientific literature to see what other methods have been tried to process data so that the research team can adjust and try those methods for larger amounts of data, and further advance this type of research technology into the future.