CAREER: Smart and scalable approaches for developing multimodal optical and acoustic imaging technologies

活体成像是生命科学基础研究的重要组成部分，在临床疾病诊断中发挥着重要作用。与体外诊断不同，体内成像是非破坏性的且可重复的，但通常在给定时间提供关于一个或两个生物参数的信息。活体中复杂疾病的研究或检测需要关于解剖、功能（例如，氧饱和度）和分子生物标志物。因此，结合常规成像技术（例如磁共振成像、正电子发射断层扫描和X射线计算机断层扫描）的多模态成像方法已获得临床重要性。然而，这些多模态技术是昂贵的，并且不适合于护理点（POC）成像应用。该CAREER项目将开发和集成光学，超声和光声技术，并展示可靠的多模式POC成像。教育推广活动将为女性和代表性不足的K-12，本科生和研究生准备下一代生物医学成像设备创新。该提案的总体目标是建立一个综合的研究，教育和推广计划，以下一代智能，负担得起的，便携式，非电离，多模态成像和传感设备的科学和工程为中心。研究目标是开发一种新型的多模态光学，光声和超声成像平台，建立在透明超声换能器技术，基于模型的数据科学工具和人工智能的接口上。该平台将被验证用于研究脑癌模型中的神经活动。教育目标是培养STEM领导者（在K-12，本科生和研究生水平），通过针对教师的重点研讨会和讲习班，便携式超声成像和用于细胞刺激的廉价超声生物反应器的现场演示，以及多模态传感和人工智能交叉点的新教材。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的学术价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

In vivo imaging is an integral part of basic life science research and also plays a critical role in diagnosis of several diseases in clinic. Unlike in vitro diagnostics, in vivo imaging is non-destructive and repeatable, but typically provides information about one or two biological parameters at a given time. Study or detection of complex diseases in a living subject requires information about anatomical, functional (e.g., oxygen saturation), and molecular biomarkers. Therefore, multimodal imaging methods combining conventional imaging techniques - such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Position Emission Tomography and X-Ray Computer Tomography - have gained clinical importance. However, these multimodal technologies are expensive and not suitable for point-of-care (POC) imaging applications. This CAREER project will develop and integrate optical, ultrasound and photoacoustic technologies and demonstrate reliable multimodal POC imaging. The educational outreach activities will prepare female and underrepresented K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students for next generation biomedical imaging device innovation.The overarching goal of this proposal is to build an integrated research, education and outreach program centered on the science and engineering of next generation smart, affordable, portable, and non-ionizing, multimodal imaging and sensing devices. The research objective is to develop a novel multimodal optical, photoacoustic, and ultrasound imaging platform built at the interface of transparent ultrasound transducer technology, model-based data science tools and artificial intelligence. The platform will be validated for studying neural activity in brain cancer models. The educational objective is to prepare STEM leaders (at K-12, undergraduate and graduate levels) for advancing innovations in smart biomedical imaging and sensing devices through focused seminars and workshops for teachers, live demo of portable ultrasound imaging and inexpensive ultrasound bioreactor for cell stimulation, and new teaching materials at the intersection of multimodal sensing and AI.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.