Christine P. Hendon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Christine P. Hendon
Hendon in 2019
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Case Western Reserve University Harvard Medical School
Known for	Optical coherence imaging for interventional heart arrhythmia procedures
Awards	2017 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), 2013 MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35, 2012 Forbes 30 under 30 in Science and Healthcare
Scientific career
Fields	Electrical and biomedical engineering
Institutions	Columbia University

Christine P. Hendon is an amazing American engineer and computer scientist. She is a professor at Columbia University in New York City. Professor Hendon is a leader in medical imaging. This means she invents new ways to see inside the human body.

She creates special technologies that use light. These tools help doctors guide important medical procedures. They also help doctors understand how human tissues and organs work. Her new imaging methods have greatly improved how doctors find and treat diseases. These include heart rhythm problems (called cardiac arrhythmias), breast cancer, and even issues related to preterm birth.

Her work on imaging tools for the heart has earned her many awards. These include being named one of Forbes' "30 under 30" and one of MIT Technology Review's "35 Innovators Under 35." In 2017, President Barack Obama honored her with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Early Life and Education

Christine Hendon (born Christine Fleming) wanted to be a teacher when she was a child. In high school, she really enjoyed math and science. She joined a special program at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. This program inspired her to become a scientist.

In 2000, Hendon started college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This famous school is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She also started doing research right away. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in 2004.

After MIT, Hendon went to Case Western Reserve University. There, she earned her Master's degree in 2007. She then completed her PhD in Biomedical Engineering in 2010. During her PhD, she worked with Andrew M. Rollins. She began using and improving a technique called Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). This method creates detailed 3D images of human tissues and organs. She used it to help treat heart rhythm problems.

She developed a computer program to map heart tissue. This helped doctors see early changes from disease or injury. Her work showed that OCT can help doctors see treatments in real-time. This can make treatments like radiofrequency ablation (RFA) much more effective.

After her PhD, Hendon did more research at Harvard Medical School. She worked at Massachusetts General Hospital until 2012. During this time, she made OCT even better at seeing deep inside tissues.

Career and Research

In 2012, Professor Hendon joined Columbia University. She became an assistant professor in Electrical Engineering. In 2018, she was promoted to Associate Professor. She now leads her own research group called the Structure-Function Imaging Laboratory.

Her lab creates new medical technologies. These tools help doctors see inside biological tissues. They also improve how doctors diagnose and treat cancer and heart problems. Her work combines real-time computer programs with OCT imaging data. This helps her team get important health information from the images. Hendon is also a member of several important engineering groups. These include the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

OCT for Heart Problems

Professor Hendon helped improve how doctors treat a heart condition called atrial fibrillation. This is when the heart beats irregularly. She used a special tool called a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) guided catheter. This tool helps doctors guide a treatment called ablation. Her research showed that this improved the results of radio-frequency ablation therapy.

Hendon then used her OCT skills to study heart tissue in detail. She could image tiny parts like elastic fibers and collagen. She could also see signs of disease. Since the makeup of heart tissue affects disease and recovery, her team developed a way to classify tissue types. They used a computer model to do this. It was over 80% accurate. This means doctors can now see tissue changes during treatment. This helps them treat patients more accurately and improve recovery.

OCT for Breast Cancer

Professor Hendon also adapted her OCT methods for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. This imaging technique is sometimes called "optical ultrasound." Using very high-resolution OCT, she improved how doctors find and understand breast cancer.

OCT for Preterm Birth

Hendon became interested in how the cervix changes during pregnancy. She wanted to know if understanding these changes could help prevent preterm birth. Preterm birth is when a baby is born too early. She found that the way collagen fibers are arranged in the cervix affects its changes. These changes can lead to the cervix shortening. This shortening is linked to preterm birth.

By using OCT and special computer models, Hendon could study the cervix's structure. She could see how it deforms. This helps scientists understand why preterm birth happens at a tiny, tissue level. This research could lead to new ways to prevent babies from being born too early.

Awards and Honors

• 2021 Elected as Fellow of the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE)
• 2017 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
• 2015 National Science Foundation Career Award
• 2015 Rodriguez Family Junior Faculty Development Award at the School of Engineering and Applied Science
• 2014 NIH New Innovator Award
• 2013 MIT Technology Review's 35 Innovators Under 35
• 2012 Forbes 30 under 30 in Science and Healthcare
• 2012 Wellman-Bullock Postdoctoral Fellowship - Massachusetts General Hospital

Select Publications

• Ling Y, Yao X, Hendon CP. Highly phase-stable 200 kHz swept-source optical coherence tomography based on KTN electro-optic deflector. Biomed Opt Express. 2017;8(8):3687-3699. Published 18 July 2017. doi:10.1364/BOE.8.003687
• Yao X, Gan Y, Chang E, Hibshoosh H, Feldman S, Hendon C. Visualization and tissue classification of human breast cancer images using ultrahigh-resolution OCT. Lasers Surg Med. 2017;49(3):258-269. doi:10.1002/lsm.22654
• Yu Gan, Xinwen Yao, Chang E, et al. Comparative study of texture features in OCT images at different scales for human breast tissue classification. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2016;2016:3926-3929. doi:10.1109/EMBC.2016.7591586
• Yao X, Gan Y, Marboe CC, Hendon CP. Myocardial imaging using ultrahigh-resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography. J Biomed Opt. 2016;21(6):61006. doi:10.1117/1.JBO.21.6.061006
• Singh-Moon RP, Marboe CC, Hendon CP. Near-infrared spectroscopy integrated catheter for characterization of myocardial tissues: preliminary demonstrations to radiofrequency ablation therapy for atrial fibrillation. Biomed Opt Express. 2015;6(7):2494-2511. Published 12 June 2015. doi:10.1364/BOE.6.002494
• Gan Y, Yao W, Myers KM, Vink JY, Wapner RJ, Hendon CP. Analyzing three-dimensional ultrastructure of human cervical tissue using optical coherence tomography. Biomed Opt Express. 2015;6(4):1090-1108. Published 3 March 2015. doi:10.1364/BOE.6.001090
• Gan Y, Yao W, Myers KM, Hendon CP. An automated 3D registration method for optical coherence tomography volumes. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2014;2014:3873-3876. doi:10.1109/EMBC.2014.6944469
• Wang, Hui & Hendon, Christine & Rollins, Andrew. (2007). Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography at 1.15 μm using photonic crystal fiber with no zero-dispersion wavelengths. Optics Express - OPT EXPRESS. 15. 10.1364/OE.15.003085.