In treatment for brain cancer, a surgeon often removes the bulk of the tumor, but it's not always obvious where the tumor ends or where malignant cells might be spreading in tentacles through healthy tissue. "That's my job," says graduate student Martin Janecek, "to identify whether the cells are healthy or cancerous." To accomplish this, Martin has developed a camera just 1-inch square in size. "You put the camera against a tissue, and you know within 30 seconds if it's cancer or not," he says.

This is only half of Martin's dissertation research in the biological imaging program of the Biomedical Physics Department. The other half also involves a camera, 1.5 millimeters in diameter and 4 centimeters long, that can be inserted into a beating heart to detect a particular kind of plaque buildup in arteries that is a frequent cause of heart attacks.

Martin and his mentor, Professor Edward J. Hoffman were the first to create and present the artery camera, and no one else has built an imaging device to detect residual cancer cells. Both projects involve "problems that are generally agreed to be problems that should be solved," says Professor Hoffman. "The jury is out on the final solutions, but the devices that Martin is developing are among the few solutions that seem viable."

Both cameras are based on the same science. In positron emission tomography (PET) scans, tracer molecules are injected into the body. For example, a genetically altered glucose might be used to identify areas that are more active: often cancer cells but also the heart. Positrons emitted from the tracer are annihilated when they encounter electrons, and the gamma rays that result can be detected outside the body.

Martin's work detects the positron before it encounters an electron. "In order to do this, I have to be within a millimeter of the cell," Martin explains. "I have to be so close because the things we're looking at are so small, but I also get an image with much higher resolution." Martin's brain camera reduces risks to the patient by shortening the length of the surgery—the patient doesn't have to be moved to an MRI scanner for conventional imaging.

His heart camera sees a kind of unstable plaque that is otherwise undetectable because it's soft. However, such plaque can release a clot, with consequences that are quite damaging. Researchers at Stanford University asked Professor Hoffman and Martin to build the camera for a method they're developing to treat unstable plaque. The Stanford team is producing the tracer substance that is used with Martin's camera.

All of this is remarkable work for a young man who grew up in Sweden wanting to be an engineer. "I didn't know what it meant, but I wanted to become one," he says. After three years as an undergraduate at the Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg, Sweden, however, Martin found himself a little bored with math and physics. A class in medicine for engineers turned out to be his first step in a new direction.

The second was a months-long internship with a project at the Berkeley National Laboratory that was investigating the use of PET technology instead of biopsy to diagnose breast cancer. "I loved the work," Martin says, but soon enough he found himself back in Sweden with his master's degree in hand. "All of a sudden I was an engineer, and I had no future plans," he says.

Martin started doctoral studies in microelectronics at Chalmers University, but within a few months he realized "that was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life," he says. "I had problems getting up in the morning because I didn't feel motivated." He got back in touch with the professor he'd worked for at Berkeley and received encouragement to pursue studies in medical imaging—but no firm offer. An e-mail to Professor Hoffman at UCLA, on the other hand, produced an offer of a research job the very next day. An 800 score on the quantitative part of the GRE helped ensure that he became a graduate student, as well.

Besides his cameras, Martin lists an impressive array of papers and presentations on his CV, several as first author, which should help him as he looks for new work—perhaps a job in industry or a postdoctoral position. He received support from Paulson Scholarships from 1999 through 2001 and is the recipient of a dissertation year fellowship from the Graduate Division.

He is also a people person, Professor Hoffman says. Martin's mentor at Berkeley noted that "if you saw a group of young ladies standing around someone at a party, you could be fairly sure Martin was in the middle." At UCLA Martin has organized opera excursions and is always ready to play soccer or volleyball, his adviser says: "I guess he is the well-rounded, charming, and active person that all of us scientists wish we were."

Published in Winter 2003, Graduate Quarterly