Biomedical Optics Laboratory · KAIST

Optics and AIto understand, diagnose, and treat human disease — and to measure the systems that industry builds.

We measure and shape light — quantitative, label-free, and non-destructive — to see inside living matter, and to measure the systems that industry builds. Directed by Prof. YongKeun (Paul) Park, Department of Physics, KAIST.

Explore research → Meet the lab
287
Publications
27
Lab members
9
Alumni in faculty roles

Holotomography — label-free 3D imaging of live neuron dynamics, no staining or fixation.

Research

One measurement science, four frontiers.

01 Label-Free 3D Imaging of Living Matter Quantitative phase imaging and holotomography that resolve living cells without stains, dyes, or fixation. Life-Science Methods → 02 Seeing Inside What Manufacturing Builds The same light-field measurement, turned toward the buried interfaces and transparent structures of advanced manufacturing. Industrial Metrology → 03 Observing Living Biology as It Unfolds Label-free 3D imaging and AI, brought together to ask harder questions in organoid, cancer, and regenerative biology. Life-Science Applications → 04 Non-Invasive Imaging for Assisted Reproduction Label-free imaging and AI for non-invasive assessment and selection of oocytes, sperm, and embryos. In Vitro Fertilization →

Our work bridges optical technology development, basic biology, and clinical and industrial applications — across the Department of Physics and the KAIST Institute. See our people and publications, or take a virtual tour of the lab through the Korean Academy of Science and Technology.

Contact — Prof. YongKeun (Paul) Park · yk.park [at] kaist.ac.kr · +82-42-350-2514 · Department of Physics, KAIST, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea

news

Sep 24, 2026 The 6th Quantitative Phase Imaging (QPI) Symposium will be held at The Chinese University of Hong Kong on 20 November 2026, bringing together researchers in quantitative phase imaging, biomedicine, physical sciences, optical imaging, and metrology. Invited speakers are Nicholas Durr (Johns Hopkins University), Yuan Luo (National Taiwan University), Kevin Tsia and Kenneth K. Y. Wong (The University of Hong Kong), and Yongsoo Yang (KAIST). Attendance is free with advance registration. Poster abstracts are due 30 October 2026, 23:59 HKT. Complimentary conference dinner places are available to advance registrants on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to availability. Register · Symposium details Poster for the 6th Quantitative Phase Imaging Symposium, Hong Kong, 20 November 2026. Poster abstract deadline: 30 October 2026.
Aug 13, 2026 Our paper “Video-rate wavefront capture and replay via single-shot reference-free measurement: toward holographic telepresence” is published in Opto-Electronic Advances (IF 22.4). [article]
Aug 18, 2024 Our review on holotomography is featured as the cover of Nature Reviews Methods Primers. [article]
Oct 24, 2023 Our perspective on integrating artificial intelligence with quantitative phase imaging for the life sciences is published in Nature Methods.
Oct 20, 2023 Our preprint on holotomography of live organoids received media coverage via ChosunBiz. [preprint]

selected publications

  1. Nat. Photon.
    Incoherent dielectric tensor tomography for quantitative 3D measurement of biaxial anisotropy
    Juheon Lee, Yeon Wook Kim, Hwanseok Chang, and 6 more authors
    Nature Photonics, 2026
    DOI
  2. Nat. Commun.
    Revealing 3D microanatomical structures of unlabeled thick tissues from cancer patients using holotomography and virtual H&E staining via deep learning
    J Park
    Nature Communications, 2025
    DOI
  3. Nat. Rev. Methods Primers
    Holotomography
    Geon Kim, Herve Hugonnet, Kyoohyun Kim, and 17 more authors
    Nature Reviews Methods Primers, 2024
    DOI
  4. Nat. Methods
    Artificial intelligence-enabled quantitative phase imaging methods for life sciences
    Juyeon Park, Bijie Bai, DongHun Ryu, and 13 more authors
    Nature Methods, 2023
    DOI
  5. Nat. Mater.
    Tomographic measurements of dielectric tensors at optical frequency
    Seungwoo Shin, Jonghee Eun, Sang Seok Lee, and 6 more authors
    Nature Materials, 2022
    DOI
  6. Nat. Cell Biol.
    Label-free multiplexed microtomography of endogenous subcellular dynamics using generalizable deep learning
    YoungJu Jo, Hyungjoo Cho, Wei Sun Park, and 13 more authors
    Nature Cell Biology, 2021
    DOI
  7. Nat. Photon.
    Intensity-based holographic imaging via space-domain Kramers-Kronig relations
    YoonSeok Baek and YongKeun Park
    Nature Photonics, 2021
    DOI
  8. Nat. Photon.
    Quantitative phase imaging in biomedicine
    YongKeun Park, Christian Depeursinge, and Gabriel Popescu
    Nature Photonics, 2018
    DOI
  9. Nat. Photon.
    Ultrahigh-definition dynamic 3D holographic display by active control of volume speckle fields
    Hyeonseung Yu, KyeoReh Lee, Jongchan Park, and 1 more author
    Nature Photonics, 2017
    DOI
  10. Nat. Photon.
    Subwavelength light focusing using random nanoparticles
    Jung-Hoon Park, Chunghyun Park, HyeonSeung Yu, and 7 more authors
    Nature Photonics, 2013
    DOI

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