ERC Consolidator Grant for Dierck Hillmann

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded physicist Dierck Hillmann from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam a Consolidator Grant for his " Hillmann aims to enhance the resolution of images of the retina.

Dierck Hillmann is working on making super-detailed pictures of the retina, the part at the back of your eye that helps you see. Normally, they use light that goes through the pupil to take those pictures, but that limits how sharp they can get (the so-called diffraction at the pupil limits the resolution)--kind of like trying to take a photo through a small keyhole. Hillmann uses near-infrared light for this purpose. Hillmann explains: "It’s all’about the angles at which light can reach the back of the eye and the angles of the reflected light that can be detected. These factors determine the resolution, or in other words, the smallest details that our imaging technique can reveal."

’keyhole problem’

What Hillmann wants to do is use infrared light and shine it through different parts of the eye, like the white part (the sclera) or even through the skull. This way, he can avoid the ’keyhole problem’ and get much sharper images. With this, he might be able to better see individual cells in your eye and even visualize how they work. Hillmann states, "We will move away from the traditional approach of illumination through the pupil. Instead, we will illuminate the retina via the sclera or skull to break the resolution limit imposed by the pupil. We will keep detecting the scattered light through the pupil. This will allow us to see smaller details in the eye. For this, we need advanced imaging and computational methods to reconstruct the information lost during illumination through scattering tissue."

Detecting eye problems sooner

In the future, the outcomes of this project could lead to spotting eye or brain problems way earlier, helping with treatments or even figuring out new ways to diagnose diseases.

Consolidator Grant

The ERC uses the Consolidator Grant to support outstanding principal investigators for a period of five years during the career stage where they may still be establishing their own independent research team or program. Hillmann will receive two million euros for his project.