Ahsan has developed a sui generis versatile holographic system capable of diverse photo-perturbation techniques including photo-manipulation, photo-activation, photo-ablation, optical-trapping and optogenetics, combined with multi-modal imaging capabilities to perform super-resolution, high-contrast, and high-speed image acquisition through convolutional neural network powered computer vision and machine learning algorithm for data processing to elucidate the dynamics of molecules, measure local forces, and re-localise or switch cellular and molecular behaviour.

As one of its first applications, this holographic system was deployed to the study of cancer and stem cell shape regulation and the role of effective membrane tension in unionising actomyosin movement to resist external deformational and destabilising forces. The results provided direct evidence for the role of physical interactions by plasma membrane in interpreting the environment that surrounds the cell to regulate and control cell dynamics and by extension cell behaviours through cell signaling. Ever since, these findings have directly led to expanding and redefining understanding of how mechanical properties of the cell surface are locally and globally responsible for driving cell shape changes in physiological and disease conditions.

Additionally, Ahsan has designed a device capable of simultaneously holographic-trapping and dynamically exciting multiple independent cellular targets each located in a specific region and having different excitation and emission wavelengths, by application-optimised method which only requires a single modulator to generate multi-depth multi-chromatic holograms. These holograms are produced through a custom-developed iterative code with only ten iterations to achieve a PSNR of above 35 dB, an efficiency of 96% and a crosstalk of less than 1% in the results.