Daniel Palanker

Biography

Daniel Palanker is a Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Director of the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory at Stanford University. He received MSc in Physics in 1984 from the Yerevan State University in Armenia, and PhD in Applied Physics in 1994 from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Dr. Palanker is working on optical and electronic technologies for diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical and prosthetic applications, primarily in ophthalmology. These studies include laser-tissue interactions with applications to non-damaging retinal laser therapy and to ocular surgery with ultrafast lasers. In the field of electro-neural interfaces, Dr. Palanker is developing retinal prosthesis for restoration of sight to the blind and implants for electronic control of organs, including secretory glands and blood vessels. He is also working on interferometric imaging of neural signals. Several of his developments are in clinical practice world-wide: Pulsed Electron Avalanche Knife (PEAK PlasmaBlade, Medtronic Inc.), Patterned Scanning Laser Photocoagulator (PASCAL, Topcon Inc.), OCT-guided Laser System for Cataract Surgery (Catalys, Abbott Corp.), Neural stimulator for enhanced tear secretion (TrueTear, Allergan Inc.). Several others are in clinical trials: Smartphone-based ophthalmic diagnostics and monitoring (Paxos, DigiSight Inc.), Photovoltaic Retinal Prosthesis (PRIMA, Pixium Vision), Gene therapy of the retinal pigment epithelium (Ocular BioFactory, Avalanche Biotechnologies Inc).

Research Interest

Interactions of electric field and light with biological cells and tissues: mechanisms and applications to diagnostics, therapeutics and prosthetics.