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Wuwei Ren
Assistant Professor
Graduated School: ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Tel: 021-20684434
Office: 1D-401.A
Homepage: http://miblab.sist.shanghaitech.edu.cn/
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Research Area: Optical imaging, fluorescence imaging, image reconstruction, and optical BCI
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Dr. Wuwei Ren is an Assistant Professor at the School of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University. His research interests include optical imaging, image reconstruction, fluorescence-guided surgery, and optical brain–computer interfaces. He received his bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees from Zhejiang University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and ETH Zurich, respectively, followed by postdoctoral research at the University of Zurich. Over the past five years, he has published as a corresponding author in Nature Communications, Laser & Photonics Reviews, IEEE TMI, IEEE TBME, Optics Express, Biomedical Optics Express, and Physics in Medicine & Biology. His optical imaging prototypes have received European entrepreneurship awards, including Venture Kick Award, and have been exhibited at Hannover Messe. He has hosted projects funded by the Swiss BRIDGE program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Youth and General Program), Shanghai’s Key Technology R&D Program, and Mindray Medical. He has been selected for Shanghai Young Eastern Scholar and Leading Talent programs. He serves as associate editors of Neuroelectronics and Chinese Journal of Lasers, and has chaired sessions at SPIE Photonics West and the European Molecular Imaging Meeting. He also serves on expert review panels for China’s National Key R&D Program and relevant Ministry of Industry and Information Technology programs.


Education

2012-2018      PhD in Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

2010-2012      M. S. in Medical imaging, Royal Institute of Technology KTH, Sweden

2006-2010      B. S. in Biomedical Engineering, Zhejiang University, China

 

Research Interests

Optical imaging (Fluorescence imaging, Diffuse optical imaging, Optoacoustic imaging, Miniscope, tc.)

Optical simulation, Image reconstruction & Image processing

Multimodal imaging, specialized in MRI-optics hybrid systems

Image-guided surgery & Preclinical imaging


  • Name：Liang Chen
    Position：Engineer
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  • Name：Linlin Li
    Position：PhD student
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  • Name：Yexing Hu
    Position：Master student
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  • Name：Xinyi Zhu
    Position：Master student
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  • Name：Chen Duan
    Position：Master student
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  • Name：Jianru Zhang
    Position：Master student
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  • Name：Yanan Wu
    Position：Master student
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  • Name：Shihan Zhao
    Position：Master student
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  • Name：Kaiqi Kuang
    Position：Master student
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  • Name：Liangtao Gu
    Position：Master student
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Quantitative Biophotonics and Optical Imaging


Research Focus: Addressing biological information loss caused by light–tissue interactions through the joint design of reconstruction methods, imaging instruments, and miniaturized systems for quantitative optical imaging across scales.


Figure 1 | Research framework: Reconstruction, instrumentation, and miniaturization to recover information lost during light propagation, with applications in quantitative neuroimaging and clinical translation.


Direction 1: Physics-Constrained Reconstruction for Ill-Posed Optical Inverse Problems

Figure 2 | SD-FMT separates target and background components to improve fluorescence molecular tomography fidelity at low target-to-background ratios.

Figure 3 | μNeuFMT couples implicit neural representations with a diffusion model to jointly reconstruct fluorescence distributions and adaptively estimate background optical properties.

Selected Publications

  1. Zhao S, et al., Ren W*. μNeuFMT: Background-Optical-Property-Adaptive Fluorescence Molecular Tomography via Implicit Neural Representation. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2026, Early Access.

  2. Zhang J, et al., Ren W*. High-Fidelity Solution Decomposition Fluorescence Tomography in the Presence of Background Interference. Laser & Photonics Reviews, 20(2), 2026, e01013. [Cover]

  3. Shen S, et al., Ren W*. High Resolution Diffuse Optical Tomography via Neural Fields. IEEE Transactions on Computational Imaging, 11, 2025, 955–966.

  4. Ren W, et al. Smart Toolkit for Fluorescence Tomography: Simulation, Reconstruction, and Validation. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 67, 2020, 16–26.

Direction 2: Structured Illumination and Time-Resolved Detection for Quantitative Imaging

Figure 4 | SPAD-based time-domain diffuse optical imaging combines standard phantoms and simulation benchmarks for quantitative measurement and validation of photon migration.

Selected Publications

  1. Li L, et al., Ren W*. Accelerated SPAD-based diffuse optical tomography with data-driven view optimization. Journal of Biophotonics, 19(6), 2026, e70289.

  2. Zhao W, et al., Ren W*. Systematic validation of time-resolved diffuse optical simulators via non-contact SPAD-based measurements. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 71(12), 2026, 125041.

  3. Gao S, et al., Ren W*. Multifunctional Optical Tomography System with High-Fidelity Surface Extraction Based on a Single Programmable Scanner and Unified Pinhole Modeling. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 71(4), 2024, 1391–1403.

  4. Hu Y, et al., Ren W*. Simultaneous reconstruction of 3D fluorescence distribution and object surface using structured light illumination and dual-camera detection. Optics Express, 32(9), 2024.

  5. Ren W*, et al. Multimodal imaging combining time-domain near-infrared optical tomography and continuous-wave fluorescence molecular tomography. Optics Express, 28, 2020, 9860–9874.


Direction 3: High-Fidelity Miniature Microscopy under Hardware Constraints

Figure 5 | Aberration calibration, PSF modeling, and dual-wavelength multiplexing improve imaging fidelity and functionality in miniature microscopes with compact hardware.

Selected Publications

  1. Gu L, et al., Ren W*. High-fidelity miniature fluorescence microscopy using Zernike-based point-spread-function modeling and hardware-assisted calibration. Laser & Photonics Reviews, 20(18), 2026, e02485. [Cover]

  2. Xu J, et al., Ren W*. Compact dual-wavelength miniature fluorescence microscope based on spectral multiplexing. Optics Letters, 51(19), 2026, 5577–5580.

  3. Zhu X, et al., Ren W*. MiniMounter: a low-cost miniaturized microscopy development toolkit for image quality control and enhancement. Journal of Biophotonics, 17(2), 2024, e202300214.

Direction 4 (Applications): Multiscale Neuroimaging and Clinical Translation

Figure 6 | Cerebrovascular thermometry and stroke perfusion imaging combine optical measurements with MRI/TTC validation to advance quantitative neuroimaging and clinical assessment.

Selected Publications

  1. Wu Y, et al., Ren W*. Lanthanide luminescence nanothermometer with working wavelength beyond 1500 nm for cerebrovascular temperature imaging in vivo. Nature Communications, 15, 2024, 2341. [ESI Highly Cited Paper]

  2. Li F, et al., Ren W*. Lanthanide lifetime nanothermometer boosted by energy migration network for high-speed in vivo temperature imaging. Nature Communications, 2026, accepted in principle.

  3. Ren W*, et al. Monitoring mouse brain perfusion with hybrid magnetic resonance optoacoustic tomography. Biomedical Optics Express, 14, 2023, 1192–1204.

  4. Ren W*, et al. Non-invasive visualization of amyloid-beta deposits in Alzheimer amyloidosis mice using magnetic resonance imaging and fluorescence molecular tomography. Biomedical Optics Express, 13, 2022, 3809–3822.

  5. Chen Z, et al., Ren W. Hybrid magnetic resonance and optoacoustic tomography (MROT) for preclinical neuroimaging. Light: Science & Applications, 11, 2022, 332.



Teaching

  • Digital Signal Processing | ShanghaiTech-EE152 | Spring 2021–2026

  • Digital Image Processing | ShanghaiTech-CS270 | Fall 2021–2023

  • Multimodal Brain–Computer Interfaces | ShanghaiTech-SI361 | Spring 2021–2024

  • New Course | Biomedical Photonics and Imaging | ShanghaiTech-EE280 | Fall 2024–2026


Course Structure: Fundamental theory, core imaging techniques, non-imaging optical techniques, and practical activities.


Practical Activities: Laboratory visits, in-class imaging system demonstrations, and hands-on exercises.

School News:

https://sist.shanghaitech.edu.cn/2025/1110/c2858a1116737/page.htm


Guest Lectures: International biophotonics experts, including Prof. Vasilis Ntziachristos (Technical University of Munich), contribute to the course.


Guest Lecture Series: Scholars from China and abroad introduce frontier topics in biophotonics related to EE280.


Publications and Research Outputs

1. Zhao S, Zhang J, Wu Y, Li L, Shen S, Zhu X, Zheng G*, Jiang J, Ren W* (2026). μNeuFMT: Background-Optical-Property-Adaptive Fluorescence Molecular Tomography via Implicit Neural Representation. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging. Early Access.

2. Li F, Wu Y, Zhao R, Zhang M, Wang H, Zhao W, Li X, Wu Z, Gu L, Li F*, Ren W*, Zhu X* (2026). Lanthanide lifetime nanothermometer boosted by energy migration network for high-speed in vivo temperature imaging. Nature Communications. Accepted in principle.

3. Gu L, Liu Y, Zhu X, Li R, Zhou N, Dong J*, Ren W* (2026). High-fidelity miniature fluorescence microscopy using Zernike-based point-spread-function modeling and hardware-assisted calibration. Laser & Photonics Reviews, 20(18), e02485. [Cover]

4. Zhang J, Li L, Hu Q, Zhang J, Wu Y, Gu L, Li J, Li F, Zhu X*, Jiang J*, Ren W* (2026). High-Fidelity Solution Decomposition Fluorescence Tomography in the Presence of Background Interference. Laser & Photonics Reviews, 20(2), e01013. [Cover]

5. Li L, Kuang K, Lin Y, Zhang J, Chen B, Jiang J, Bruschini C, Charbon E*, Ren W* (2026). Accelerated SPAD-based diffuse optical tomography with data-driven view optimization. Journal of Biophotonics, 19(6), e70289.

6. Zhao W, Li L, Kuang K, Lin Y, Bruschini C, Cao J, Li T, Charbon E*, Ren W* (2026). Systematic validation of time-resolved diffuse optical simulators via non-contact SPAD-based measurements. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 71(12), 125041.

7. Xu J, Zhu X, Gu L, Li Y, Feng J, Ren W* (2026). Compact dual-wavelength miniature fluorescence microscope based on spectral multiplexing. Optics Letters, 51(19), 5577–5580.

8. Wu Q, Guo X, Chen L, Liu Y, Ren W, Zhang Y, Zhou SK, Yu J, Zhang Y (2026). Solving energy-independent density for CT metal artifact reduction via neural representation. IEEE Transactions on Radiation and Plasma Medical Sciences.

9. Landman MS*, Jiang J*, Zhang J, Ren W (2025). Augmented Flexible Krylov Subspace methods with applications to Bayesian inverse problems. Linear Algebra and its Applications, 721, 172–201.

10. Shen S, Li L, Gao S, Wang Y, Gu L, Li S, Zhu X, Jiang J*, Yu J*, Ren W* (2025). High Resolution Diffuse Optical Tomography via Neural Fields. IEEE Transactions on Computational Imaging, 11, 955–966.

11. Wang J, Pan B, Wang Z, Zhang J, Zhou Z, Yao L, Wu Y, Ren W, Wang J, Ji H, Yu J*, Chen B* (2024). Single-pixel p-graded-n junction spectrometers. Nature Communications, 15, 1773.

12. Wu Y, Li F, Wu Y, Wang H, Gu L, Zhang J, Qi Y, Meng L, Kong N, Chai Y, Hu Q, Xing Z, Ren W*, Li F*, Zhu X* (2024). Lanthanide luminescence nanothermometer with working wavelength beyond 1500 nm for cerebrovascular temperature imaging in vivo. Nature Communications, 15, 2341. [ESI Highly Cited Paper]

13. Zhang J, Wang Z, Cao T, Cao G*, Ren W*, Jiang J* (2024). Robust residual-guided iterative reconstruction for sparse-view CT in small animal imaging. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 69(10), 105010.

14. Hu Y, Wu Y, Li L, Zhu X, Gu L, Jiang J, Ren W* (2024). Simultaneous reconstruction of 3D fluorescence distribution and object surface using structured light illumination and dual-camera detection. Optics Express, 32(9).

15. Gao S, Zhang J, Hu Y, Wu Y, Li L, Hu Q, Lou X, Zhu X, Jiang J*, Ren W* (2024). Multifunctional Optical Tomography System with High-Fidelity Surface Extraction Based on a Single Programmable Scanner and Unified Pinhole Modeling. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 71(4), 1391–1403.

16. Zhu X, Gu L, Li R, Chen L, Chen J, Zhou N*, Ren W* (2024). MiniMounter: a low-cost miniaturized microscopy development toolkit for image quality control and enhancement. Journal of Biophotonics, 17(2), e202300214.

17. Ren W*, Dean-Ben XL, Skachokova Z, Augath M, Ni R, Chen Z, Razansky D* (2023). Monitoring mouse brain perfusion with hybrid magnetic resonance optoacoustic tomography. Biomedical Optics Express, 14, 1192–1204.

18. Ren W*, Li L, Zhang J, Vaas M, Klohs J, Ripoll J, Wolf M, Ni R, Rudin M (2022). Non-invasive visualization of amyloid-beta deposits in Alzheimer amyloidosis mice using magnetic resonance imaging and fluorescence molecular tomography. Biomedical Optics Express, 13, 3809–3822.

19. Ren W*, Ji B, Guan Y, Cao L, Ni R* (2022). Recent Technical Advances in Accelerating the Clinical Translation of Small Animal Brain Imaging: Hybrid Imaging, Deep Learning, and Transcriptomics. Frontiers in Medicine, 9, 771982.

20. Hu Y, Lafci B, Luzgin A, Wang H, Klohs J, Dean-Ben XL, Ni R, Razansky D*, Ren W* (2022). Deep learning facilitates fully automated brain image registration of optoacoustic tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Biomedical Optics Express, 13, 4817–4833.

21. Chen Z, Gezginer I, Augath MA, Ren W, Liu YH, Ni R, Dean-Ben XL, Razansky D* (2022). Hybrid magnetic resonance and optoacoustic tomography (MROT) for preclinical neuroimaging. Light: Science & Applications, 11, 332.

22. Zhou R, Ji B, Kong Y, Qin L, Ren W, Guan Y, Ni R* (2021). PET Imaging of Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease. Frontiers in Immunology, 12, 739130.

23. Ren W, Dean-Ben XL, Augath MA, Razansky D* (2021). Development of concurrent magnetic resonance imaging and volumetric optoacoustic tomography: A phantom feasibility study. Journal of Biophotonics, 14, e202000293.

24. Ren W, Cui S, Alini M, Grad S, Zhou Q, Li Z, Razansky D* (2021). Noninvasive multimodal fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging of whole-organ intervertebral discs. Biomedical Optics Express, 12, 3214–3227.

Before Joining ShanghaiTech University

25. Ren W*, Jiang J, Costanzo Mata AD, Kalyanov A, Ripoll J, Lindner S, Charbon E, Zhang C, Rudin M, Wolf M (2020). Multimodal imaging combining time-domain near-infrared optical tomography and continuous-wave fluorescence molecular tomography. Optics Express, 28, 9860–9874.

26. Ren W, Isler H, Wolf M, Ripoll J, Rudin M* (2020). Smart Toolkit for Fluorescence Tomography: Simulation, Reconstruction, and Validation. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 67, 16–26.

27. Liu Y, Ren W*, Ammari H (2020). Robust reconstruction of fluorescence molecular tomography with an optimized illumination pattern. Inverse Problems & Imaging, 14, 535–568.

28. Ren W, Skulason H, Schlegel F, Rudin M, Klohs J, Ni R* (2019). Automated registration of magnetic resonance imaging and optoacoustic tomography data for experimental studies. Neurophotonics, 6, 025001.

29. Ni R, Vaas M, Ren W, Klohs J* (2018). Noninvasive detection of acute cerebral hypoxia and subsequent matrix-metalloproteinase activity in a mouse model of cerebral ischemia using multispectral optoacoustic tomography. Neurophotonics, 5, 015005.

30. Ren W, Elmer A, Buehlmann D, Augath M-A, Vats D, Ripoll J, Rudin M* (2016). Dynamic Measurement of Tumor Vascular Permeability and Perfusion using a Hybrid System for Simultaneous Magnetic Resonance and Fluorescence Imaging. Molecular Imaging and Biology, 18, 191–200.

Book Chapters

1. Ren W*, Ni R* (2024). Noninvasive Visualization of Amyloid-Beta Deposits in Alzheimer’s Amyloidosis Mice via Fluorescence Molecular Tomography Using Contrast Agent. In Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Development, Chapter 16, pp. 271–285, Springer.

Selected Conference Papers

1. Gu L, Zhu X, Li R, Zhou N, Ren W* (2025). High resolution miniaturized fluorescence microscopy via Zernike-based spatially-varying deconvolution. European Conference on Biomedical Optics, W1C.3, Optica.

2. Liu Z, Chen R, Tong S, Zhu Z, Gu W, Ren W, Liu J, Zhou Y (2024). Input function separation in dual-tracer 18F-FDG and 68Ga-FAPI-04 single dynamic PET using a recurrent neural network. Society of Nuclear Medicine.

3. Ding H, Cao T, Ren W, Zhang X (2024). HL-SfM: A marker-free and automated hologram registration and tracking framework for image-guided surgery. ICVRV 2024, 166–171.

4. Li L, Shen S, Gao S, Wang Y, Gu L, Li S, Zhu X, Jiang J, Yu J, Ren W* (2023). A self-supervised learning approach for high-resolution diffuse optical tomography using neural fields. BPC 2023, Proc. SPIE.

5. Wu Y, Gao S, Li L, Zhang J, Hu Q, Lou X, Zhu X, Jiang J, Ren W* (2023). Multifunctional optical tomography system combining surface extraction and 3D fluorescence reconstruction. BPC 2023, Proc. SPIE.

6. Zhu X, Gu L, Li R, Chen L, Chen J, Zhou N, Ren W* (2023). Multi-functional accessory toolkit for Miniscope prototyping and image enhancement. BPC 2023, Proc. SPIE.

7. Ren W, Dean-Ben XL, Augath M, Razansky D* (2021). Feasibility study on concurrent optoacoustic tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Proc. SPIE. [Oral; Best Paper Nomination, Photonics West, top 5%]

8. Ren W*, Jiang J, Di Costanzo MA, Kalyanov A, Ripoll J, Lindner S, Charbon E, Zhang C, Rudin M, Wolf M (2020). Time-domain near-infrared optical tomography guided fluorescence molecular tomography. Biophotonics Congress: Biomedical Optics, OSA.


Patents and Technology Transfer

Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer

• Optical Phantom Services (2025–present): Standard phantoms for biophotonics and optical system calibration and standardization. These phantoms have been adopted by major fNIRS manufacturers in China.

• KaleiBox Project Lead (2018–2020): A portable, multifunctional fluorescence tomography system supported by SNSF BRIDGE and Venture Kick. The prototype was exhibited at the Swiss Pavilion at Hannover Messe in 2019.

Patents

1. Ren W, Rudin M. Method for selecting an illumination pattern for a fluorescence molecular tomography measurement. PCT/EP2020/051779.

2. Ren W, Zhu X, Chen L. Microscopic device for small-animal imaging. CN118112769A.

3. Ren W, Zhu X, Gu L. Imaging device combining MRI and optics. CN118161144A.

4. Ren W, Wu Y, Hu Y. Simultaneous data acquisition for 3D fluorescence visualization and surface extraction. CN116839500A.

5. Ren W, Zhu X, Chen L, Gu L. Calibration tool for miniaturized microscopy. CN116661122A.

6. Ren W, Wu Y, Chen L. Dual-view surface extraction and optical tomography using a single camera. CN116576796A.

7. Ren W, Gao S, Wu Y. Non-contact optical tomography with a continuous-wave source. CN115191947A.


Honors and Awards

2024

Excellent Research Achievement Award

ShanghaiTech University

2022–2025

Model Laboratory Award (four consecutive years)

ShanghaiTech University

2021

Shanghai Overseas Leading Talent Program

Shanghai Municipality

2020

Young Eastern Scholar

Shanghai Municipality

2019

OSA/Optica Biophotonics Congress Travel Award

Optica

2010–2012

STINT Academic Excellence Scholarship

Swedish Government

2010

Outstanding Student Leadership Award

Zhejiang University



Selected Research Highlights

Fluorescence molecular tomography at low target-to-background ratios: Solution decomposition separates background interference and improves reconstruction fidelity.
Laser & Photonics Reviews, 20(2), 2026, e01013. [Cover]

High-fidelity miniature fluorescence microscopy: Zernike PSF modeling and hardware-assisted calibration correct spatially varying aberrations.
Laser & Photonics Reviews, 20(18), 2026, e02485. [Cover]

μNeuFMT: Implicit neural representations and a differentiable diffusion model enable fluorescence molecular tomography with adaptive background optical properties.
IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2026, Early Access.

Cerebrovascular nanothermometry: Luminescent nanothermometers operating beyond 1500 nm enable quantitative in vivo imaging of mouse cerebrovascular temperature.
Nature Communications, 15, 2024, 2341. [ESI Highly Cited Paper]