Functional optical brain imaging (fNIR) research at Drexel University and its partner institutions encompasses NIRS-based studies that are mainly focused on fNIR to monitor cognitive activity. The technology under development at Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania is a wearable neuro-imaging device that enables continuous, non-invasive, minimally intrusive, portable and potentially wireless and wearable monitoring of changes in blood oxygenation and blood volume related to human brain function. The fNIR is implemented using continuous wave near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), which allows low-cost and low-power instrumentation.

Applications of fNIR technology include human performance studies, clinical monitoring in emergency medicine, critical care, anesthesiology, obstetrics, surgery, pediatrics, neurorehabilitation, mental health, training and education as well as homeland security applications such as deception monitoring. Frequency domain NIRS studies are also ongoing in skin research, particularly, wound healing and neck tumor response to radiation therapy.