Maciej Wojtkowski, Prof.

Prof. Maciej Wojtkowski, born in 1975, is a physicist with a distinguished career in applied optics, medical physics, and experimental physics. He began his scientific journey at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, where he earned his MSc, PhD, and Habilitation degrees in Physics. His early research included international appointments as a researcher at the University of Vienna and later at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Tufts New England Eye Center in Boston, USA.

Prof. Wojtkowski is a pioneer of SdOCT

Prof. Wojtkowski is one of the pioneers in the development of the spectral domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SdOCT), also known as the Fourier domain OCT method. He is a key inventor of the first prototype clinical SdOCT device for eye imaging, which revolutionized the non-invasive diagnosis of eye diseases. This device was developed at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland, becoming a standard tool in ophthalmology clinics worldwide.

Prof. Wojtkowski, together with Prof. Rainer Leitgeb and Prof. Johannes De Boer, has played a leading role in the development of SdOCT. His main achievements are related to the translation of the method into ophthalmic practice. In 2000, Prof. Wojtkowski was the first in the world to build a laboratory system for SdOCT eye imaging at Nicolaus Copernicus University (NCU) in Toruń. Together with Prof. Leitgeb, they demonstrated the first retinal imaging results in 2002, published in the Journal of Biomedical Optics (JBO). The method described in this publication became the foundation for OCT device design.

In 2003, Prof. Wojtkowski achieved a major breakthrough by experimentally demonstrating SdOCT retinal imaging with an acquisition time of 64 microseconds (~15kHz), providing the world’s first experimental evidence that SdOCT enables safe in vivo retinal imaging more than 50 times faster than standard time-domain OCT, with comparable sensitivity and sample illumination. With this work, he opened up previously unattainable possibilities for 3-D imaging of the eye. 

The same year, he conducted pioneering experiments demonstrating high-resolution 3-micron imaging of the retina and cornea using supercontinuum light generated in a photonic optical fiber, with the first examples of 3-D imaging published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology in 2004 after rejection in Nature Medicine in 2003.

During his time at MIT (2003-2005), Prof. Wojtkowski further advanced OCT by demonstrating high-quality 3-D imaging of the human retina and cornea, introducing retinal morphometric analysis based on a raster measurement protocol, which has since become the gold standard in ophthalmic diagnostics and is used in all current clinical devices. His team at NCU also introduced the use of SdOCT for imaging corneal disorders. Prof. Wojtkowski developed the first three clinical SdOCT devices for ophthalmic imaging, which were tested at Tufts New England Eye Center, Boston USA,

Jurasz Hospital in Bydgoszcz, Poland and UPMC in Pittsburgh, USA enabling clinical validation and subsequent commercialization of SdOCT method. In addition, Prof. Wojtkowski and his team at NCU made significant contributions to OCT angiography, Doppler imaging, speckle contrast reduction, and quantitative methods for SdOCT data analysis.

In 2019, his team at International Centre for Translational Eye Research (ICTER) Warsaw, Poland introduced the spatio-temporal OCT method, extending OCT’s functionality to include flicker optoretinography and high-resolution imaging of the chorio-retinal complex.

Advancing Two-photon Vision and Two-photon Imaging

Prof. Wojtkowski also made groundbreaking contributions to the understanding of two-photon vision. In 2014, he led a study that illuminated the phenomenon of two-photon vision, proving the role of two-photon absorption in the isomerization of retinal pigments that cause visual sensations. In 2021, he and his colleagues achieved another milestone by presenting the first-ever images of the human retina measured with two-photon excited fluorescence in vivo.

Prof. Wojtkowski’s scientific leadership

Since 2016, Prof. Wojtkowski has headed the Department of Physical Chemistry of Biological Systems at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IPC PAS). In 2019, he co-founded the International Center for Translational Eye Research (ICTER), a part of IPC PAS, furthering his vision of integrating physics and biomedical research to advance eye health.

ICTER focuses on cutting-edge translational research in vision science, combining fundamental science with clinical applications. Under Prof. Wojtkowski’s leadership, ICTER has achieved significant milestones, including winning the prestigious Horizon Europe Teaming for Excellence grant in 2024. It is also a two-time recipient of the International Research Agendas Programme (IRAP) grant from the Foundation for Polish Science, solidifying ICTER’s role as a global leader in ophthalmological research and innovation.

Papers, patents and commercialization

Prof. Wojtkowski has more than 240 scientific publications and numerous patents to his credit, and his work is regularly published in leading journals. His research has earned him over 8,000 citations and widespread recognition, including fellowships in prestigious societies such as the Optical Society of America. In addition to his academic and research achievements, Prof. Wojtkowski’s entrepreneurial spirit is reflected in his role as the founder and former CEO of the biomedical spin-out company AM2M, and currently the co-founder of the In Cell Vu. His contributions to science, from pioneering OCT technology to his leadership at ICTER, continue to shape the future of medical imaging and translational research.