Leanne Lai-Hang Chan (陈俪行) BEng(HKU), MSc(USC), PhD(USC)



Associate Professor


Contact Information Office: G6356AC1
Phone: 3442 9120
Fax: 3442 0562
Email: leanne.chan@cityu.edu.hk
Web: Personal Homepage

Research Interests Neural device interface
Stimulating electrode array
In vivo electrophysiology
Retinal degeneration
Retinal prostheses
Computer vision



Dr. Leanne Chan is Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering. She earned her undergraduate degree in electrical and electronic engineering at the University of Hong Kong. She obtained her MS and PhD degrees in electrical engineering and biomedical engineering respectively from University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States. Following a couple of years of postdoctoral work at the Developmental Neuroscience Program of the Saban Research Institute, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, she joined the faculty of the City University of Hong Kong in December 2011. Dr. Chan is a senior member of the IEEE Society. She is a member of the Society of Neuroscience and the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS).
Research Summary
Applying electrical pulses to surviving cells in the neural retina has proven to be a potential treatment for people who suffer from outer retinal diseases (one form of blindness), in which this approach is becoming a viable clinical option. Understanding the neural response to electrical stimulation and the mechanisms that link electrical stimulation to the neuromodulation in the visual and non-visual brain circuitries form the primary focus of Dr. Chan’s research interests. Retinal implant devices consist of three major components: wireless telemetry system, stimulating microelectrode array, and device-tissue interface – over a prolonged stimulation, neuromodulation to the brain circuitry will also be affected. Dr. Chan’s group employs a combination of neural engineering and electrophysiological approaches to analyze and interpret physiological data obtained from invasive and noninvasive studies in rodents in the Neural Interface Research (NIR) Laboratory. The NIR laboratory collaborates closely with electronic engineers, material scientists, molecular and behavioral neuroscientists from various disciplines including local and overseas universities. Previous collaborated research studies have developed a novel coil structure to enhance the efficiency of power transfer under coils misalignment using a combination of numerical analysis and computational modeling (in collaboration with Prof. Henry Chung from the CityU Electronic Engineering Department). Recent research studies have focused on the issues of cortical alterations induced by retinal degeneration in visually impaired rodents using electrophysiological approach. The NIR laboratory is also working on the development of an optogenetics and imaging approach to enhance the stimulation and neural recording techniques.


Publication Show All Publications Show Prominent Publications
Journal Wang, Y. , Chen, K. & Chan, L. L. H. (May 2018). Responsive neural activities in the primary visual cortex of retina-degenerated rats. Neuroscience. 383. 94- 97. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.05.006
Jiang, Q. , Li, G. , Zhao, H. , Shengq, W. , Yue, L. , Su, M. , Weng, S. , Chan, L. L. H. , Zhou, Q. , Humayun, M. , Qiu, W. & Zheng, H. (May 2018). Temporal neuromodulation of retinal ganglion cells by low-frequency focused ultrasound stimulation. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering. 26(5). 969- 976. doi:10.1109/TNSRE.2018.2821194
Kuang, H. , Yang, K.-F. , Chen, L. , Li, Y. , Chan, L. L. H. & Yan, H. (Mar 2018). Bayes Saliency Based Object Proposal Generator for Nighttime Traffic Images. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. 19(3). 814- 825. doi:10.1109/TITS.2017.2702665
Kuang, H. , Liu, C. , Chan, L. L. H. & Yan, H. (Mar 2018). Multi-class fruit detection based on image region selection and improved object proposals. Neurocomputing. 283. 241- 255. doi:10.1016/j.neucom.2017.12.057
Vinzons, L.U. , Shu, L. , Yip, S. , Wong, C.-Y. , Chan, L. L. H. & Ho, J.C. (Dec 2017). Unraveling the morphological evolution and etching kinetics of porous silicon nanowires during metal-assisted chemical etching. Nanoscale Research Letters. 12(1). 385doi:10.1186/s11671-017-2156-z
Kumar, G. , Au, N. P. B. , Lei, N. Y. , Mak, Y. L. , Chan, L. H. L. , Lam, H. W. M. , Chan, L. L. , Lam, K. S. P. & Ma, C. H. E. (Sep 2017). Acute exposure to Pacific ciguatoxin reduces electroencephalogram activity and disrupts neurotransmitter metabolic pathways in motor cortex. Molecular Neurobiology. 54(7). 5590- 5603. doi:10.1007/s12035-016-0093-y
Wang, J. , Xie, H. , Chung, T. , Chan, L. L. H. & Pang, S. W. (Sep 2017). Neural Probes with Integrated Temperature Sensors for Monitoring Retina and Brain Implantation and Stimulation. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering. 25(9). 1663- 1673. doi:10.1109/TNSRE.2016.2634584
Gao, M. , Yu, Y. , Zhao, H. , Li, G. , Jiang, H. , Wang, C. , Cai, F. , Chan, L. L.-H. , Chiu, B. , Qian, W. , Qiu, W. & Zheng, H. (Sep 2017). Simulation study of an ultrasound retinal prosthesis with a novel contact-lens array for noninvasive retinal stimulation. Transactions on Neural Systems & Rehabilitation Engineering. 25(9). 1605- 1611. doi:10.1109/TNSRE.2017.2682923
Huang, X.-T. , Yuan, Z. , Chan, L. H. L. , Zhao, Z. & Yan, H. (May 2017). Inference of cellular level signaling networks using single-cell gene expression data in C. elegans reveals mechanisms of cell fate specification. Bioinformatics. 33(10). 1528- 1535. doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btw796
Kuang, H. , Zhang, X. , Liu, Y.-J. , Chan, L.L. & Yan, H. (Apr 2017). Nighttime vehicle detection based on bio-inspired image enhancement and weighted score-level feature fusion. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. 18(4). 927- 936. doi:10.1109/TITS.2016.2598192
Kuang, H. , Chen, L. , Gu, F. , Chen, J. , Chan, L.L. & Yan, H. (May 2016). Combining region of interest extraction and image enhancement for nighttime vehicle detection. IEEE Intelligent Systems. 31(3). 57 - 65doi:10.1109/MIS.2016.17
Chen, K. , Wang, Y. , Liang, X. , Zhang, Y. , Ng, T.K. & Chan, L.L. (May 2016). Electrophysiology Alterations in Primary Visual Cortex Neurons of Retinal Degeneration (S334ter-line-3) Rats. Scientific Reports. 6. 26793doi:10.1038/srep26793
Wang, Y. , Chen, K. , Xu, P. , Ng, T.K. & Chan, L.L. (Apr 2016). Spontaneous neural activity in the primary visual cortex of retinal degenerated rats. Neuroscience Letters. 623. 42- 46. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2016.04.062
Kuang, H. , Chan, L.L. , Liu, C. & Yan, H. (Jan 2016). Fruit classification based on weighted score level feature fusion. Journal of Electronic Imaging. 25(1). doi:10.1117/1.JEI.25.1.013009
Huang, X.T. , Zhu, Y. , Chan, L.L. , Zhao, Z. & Yan, H. (Nov 2015). An integrative C. elegans protein–protein interaction network with reliability assessment based on a probabilistic graphical model. Molecular BioSystems. 12(1). 85- 92. doi:10.1039/C5MB00417A
Chow, J.P. , Chen, N. , Chung, H.S. & Chan, L.L. (Nov 2015). An investigation into the use of orthogonal winding in loosely-coupled link for improving power transfer efficiency under coil misalignment. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics. 30(10). 5632- 5649. doi:10.1109/TPEL.2014.2374651
Ho, V.W. , Wong, M.K. , An, X. , Guan, D. , Shao, J. , Ng, H.C. , Ren, X. , He, K. , Liao, J. , Ang, Y. , Chen, L. , Huang, X. , Yan, B. , Xia, Y. , Chan, L.L. , Chow, K.L. , Yan, H. & Zhao, Z. (Oct 2015). Systems-level quantification of division timing reveals a common genetic architecture controlling asynchrony and fate asymmetry. Molecular Systems Biology. 11(6). 814doi:10.15252/msb.20145857
Sui, X. , Huang, Yu. , Feng, F. , Huang, C. , Chan, L.L. & Wang, G. (May 2015). 3D Finite Element Modeling of Epi-retinal Stimulation — Impact of Prosthetic Electrode Size and Distance from the Retina. The International Journal of Artificial Organs. 38(5). 277- 287. doi:10.5301/ijao.5000412
Khalifa, A. , Gao, Z. , Bermak, A. , Bermak, A. & Chan, L.L. (May 2015). A Novel Method for the Fabrication of a High-Density Carbon Nanotube Microelectrode Array. Sensing and BioSensing Research. 5. 1- 7. doi:10.1016/j.sbsr.2015.04.001
Stephany, C.-E. , Chan, L.L. , Parivash, S.N. , Dorton, H.M. , Piechowicz, M. , Qiu, S. & McGee, A.W. (Aug 2014). Plasticity of binocularity and visual acuity are differentially limited by nogo receptor. Journal of Neuroscience. 34(35). 11631- 11640. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0545-14.2014
Huang, X. , Chen, L. , Chim, H. , Chan, L.L. , Zhao, Z. & Yan, H. (Dec 2013). Boolean genetic network model for the control of C. elegans early embryonic cell cycles. Biomedical Engineering Online. 12 (Suppl 1). S1doi:10.1186/1475-925X-12-S1-S1
Chen, L. , Chan, L.L. , Zhao, Z. & Yan, H. (Nov 2013). A novel cell nuclei segmentation method for 3D C. elegans embryonic time-lapse images. BMC Bioinformatics. 14(1). 328doi:10.1186/1471-2105-14-328
Ray, A. , Chan, L.L. , Gonzalez, A. , Humayun, M.S. & Weiland, J.D. (Dec 2011). Impedance as a method to sense proximity at the electrode-retina interface. IEEE Transactions on Neural System and Rehabilitation Engineering. 19(6). 696- 699. doi:10.1109/TNSRE.2011.2169428
Chan, L.L. , Lee, E-J. , Humayun, M.S. & Weiland, J.D. (Jun 2011). Both electrical stimulation thresholds and SMI-32-immunoreactive retinal ganglion cell density correlate with age in S334ter line 3 rat retina. Journal of Neurophysiology. 105(6). 2687- 2697. doi:10.1152/jn.00619.2010
Ray, A. , Sun, G.J. , Chan, L. , Grzywacz, N.M. , Weiland, J.D. & Lee, E-J. (Feb 2010). Morphological alterations in retinal neurons in the S334ter-line3 transgenic rat. Cell and Tissue Research. 339(3). 481- 491. doi:10.1007/s00441-009-0916-5


Conference Paper Xie, H. , Wang, Y. & Chan, L.L. (in press). Cortical responses driven by epi-retinal stimulation in rodent. 39th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). Jeju Island. S. Korea:11-15 Jul.
Chow, J.P. , Chung, H.S. , Chan, L.L. , Judson, N. & Tang, S.C. (in press). Design of Wireless Power Transfer System for Devices Carried by a Freely Moving Animal in Cage. IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE). Cincinnati, OH. USA:1-5 Oct.
Wang, Y. , Chen, K. & Chan, L.L. (in press). Information Transmission in the Primary Visual Cortex of Retinal Degenerated Rats. 39th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). Jeju Island. S. Korea:11-15 Jul.
Xu, H. , Chan, L.L. & Bermak, A. (Oct 2016). Novel Structure of Carbon Nanotube Micro Electrode for High-resolution Stimulation of Neurons. 38th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). (pp. 6170- 6173). Orlando, FL. USA:16-20 Aug. doi:10.1109/EMBC.2016.7592137
Yang, L. & Chan, L.L. (Nov 2015). An ERP study about the effects of different spatial frequencies and orientations on human brain activity. 37th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). (pp. 6202- 6205). Milan. Italy:25-29 Aug. doi:10.1109/EMBC.2015.7319809
Chow, J.P. , Chung, H.S. , Cheng, C.S. , Gungor, A. , Tang, S.C. & Chan, L.L. (Oct 2015). Modeling and experimentation of loosely-coupled coils with transmitter having orthogonally-placed windings. IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE). (pp. 4927- 4934). Montreal, QC. Canada:20-24 Sep. [First Prize Oral Paper Award]. doi:10.1109/ECCE.2015.7310355
Chow, J.P. , Chen, N. , Chung, H.S. & Chan, L.L. (Nov 2014). Modeling and experimentation of misalignment-tolerable loosely-coupled coil structure. IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE). (pp. 5429- 5436). Pittsburgh, PA. USA:14-18 Sep. doi:10.1109/ECCE.2014.6954145
Chow, J.P. , Chen, N. , Chung, H.S. & Chan, L.L. (Sep 2013). Misalignment tolerable coil structure for biomedical applications with wireless power transfer. 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). (pp. 775- 778). Osaka. Japan:3-7 Jul. doi:10.1109/EMBC.2013.6609615
Chan, L.H. , Ray, A. , Thomas, B.B. , Humayun, M.S. & Weiland, J.D. (Oct 2008). In vivo study of response threshold in retinal degenerate model at different degenerate stages. 30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). (pp. 1781- 1784). Vancouver, BC. Canada:20-25 Aug. doi:10.1109/IEMBS.2008.4649523
Ray, A. , Chan, L.H. , Thomas, B.B. , Humayun, M.S. & Weiland, J.D. (Dec 2006). Effects of prolonged stimulation at the electrode-retina interface. 28th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). (pp. 1285- 1287). New York, NY. USA:30 Aug.-3 Sept. doi:10.1109/IEMBS.2006.260805




Last update date : 01 Nov 2019