GCR: Meta-Optical Angioscopes for Image-Guided Therapies in Previously Inaccessible Locations

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Angioscopes are ultrathin and flexible forward-viewing optical imaging devices that guide clinical procedures in the cardiovascular system. Cardiovascular disease, led by heart attack and stroke, are the leading cause of death in the US and globally. Due to basic limitations of conventional optics, these angioscopes are currently made with a bundle of over a thousand glass optical fibers, a 50-year-old technology that provides resolution that is too low and a stiffness that is too high for important potential applications. To reach clinically significant targets in the brain and heart, the angioscope needs to be more flexible and the rigid tip length must be reduced to only a few times the width of a human hair. Such an incredibly agile angioscope in the hands of a neurosurgeon could snake its way deep into the brain to remove blood clots, which can help a stroke patient. Further, a cardiologist could use this device to pass vessel-clogging plaque deposits and accurately apply a range of therapies in coronary arteries in response to heart attacks. The potential to reduce morbidity and mortality from stroke and heart attacks could benefit many individuals. This research project at the interface between nanophotonics and bioengineering aims to develop the technology that could enable such ultra-miniature agile angioscopes by using emerging optical hardware and artificial intelligence-enabled software image reconstruction. The project brings together scientists and engineers from academia and startup companies with medical professionals to solve this high-impact problem. Ultrathin and flexible forward-viewing endoscopes, also known as angioscopes, are of critical importance for treating many cardiovascular diseases, including stroke and heart attacks, both of which are among the leading causes of death in the United States. Current medical instruments based on traditional refractive optics are too bulky to be used deep in the brain and in diseased coronary arteries. To reach locations of stroke in the brain, the rigid tip length in an angioscope must be reduced to sub-millimeter length scale. Emerging nanophotonics and metamaterial technology have the potential to achieve such clinically significant miniaturization. Meta-optics provide many degrees of freedom to design completely new types of optical elements. Multi-scale electromagnetic simulation coupled with optimization techniques have already enabled design of a meta-optic combining functionalities of multiple optical elements. In conjunction with a computational backend, meta-optics that also capture aberration-free images in full color should be possible. Combining computational inverse methods based on machine learning, semiconductor nanomanufacturing, and techniques from medical instrumentation, including advanced saline flushing, this project aims to create a micro-imaging system with 250-micron aperture and 100-micron rigid tip thickness, which will capture full-color images in a 100-degree field of view with cellular resolution. Along with academic researchers from basic science and engineering disciplines, this project includes partners associated with startups commercializing meta-optics and endoscopes as well as minimally invasive, interventional surgeons specializing in cardiovascular diseases.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.