Gowerlabs’ LUMO device was on the cover of the Optics & Photonics April 2021 magazine, and was discussed in their main feature about advances in fNIRS technology.

“DOT came about originally because, instead of just getting channel-wise measurements, people wanted to actually get three-dimensional volume images,” said Cooper. “With DOT, you have multiple measurements packed into a given area of the scalp, and you’re trying to extract spatial information from that data. The measurements are exactly the same as traditional fNIRS, but you’re using overlapping spatial sampling of an object in order to obtain three-dimensional distributions of optical properties.”

Cooper is founder of the DOT-HUB at UCL, a research group focused on the advancement of DOT for the human brain. In November 2020, he published with his colleagues the first demonstration of a wearable, high-density DOT device called LUMO in infants. They were able to generate high-quality, functional 3D images of brain activation from six-month-old infants, who tolerated the swim-cap–like headgear very well.

LUMO, developed by UCL spinoff company Gowerlabs Ltd., U.K., is part of a new generation of fNIRS technology that is wearable, wireless, miniaturized and modular by design. That means no more bulky, heavy fiber optic cables tugging on the probe caps and restricting subjects’ movement. Tile-like modules containing light sources and detectors in a hexagonal array connect to a headpiece, giving researchers experimental flexibility. And of course, a smaller and lighter headpiece allows for greater comfort and wearability for extended measurements.