I-Corps: Multiplexed Brillouin Microscopy

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是多路布里渊显微镜的开发，它引入了一种新的显微镜模式，其对比度是可取的，但目前还无法获得。这种类型的显微镜在屈光手术的眼科中有应用，目前对高危患者的筛查是基于晚发型的形态指标。除了在眼科的主要应用，这项技术还可以提供一种非侵入性的方法来提取关于形态和化学路径的信息，而不是机械性能。机械信息需要对样品进行扰动，通常是破坏，这会影响所需信息的质量。广泛使用的布里渊仪器可以帮助弥补这一差距。该i-Corps项目专注于基于样品散射光的光谱分析的布里渊显微镜的开发，这使得能够生产高分辨率的材料纵向弹性模数的三维地图。布里渊光谱已被广泛应用于材料测试和环境传感。在过去的二十年里，一种新型的光谱仪提高了采集速度，使生物应用成为可能。该项目中开发的布里渊技术可以通过将读数同时多路复用到多个点来进一步加速。这种多路布里渊显微技术扩展了这项技术的潜在应用类型。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of multiplexed Brillouin microscopy which introduces a new microscopy modality with a contrast that is desirable, but currently unavailable. This type of microscopy has applications in ophthalmology for refractive surgery, where current screening for at-risk patients is based on late-onset morphological metrics. Beyond the primary application in ophthalmology, the technology could offer a non-invasive approach to extracting information about morphology and chemical pathways, not mechanical properties. Mechanical information requires perturbation, often destruction, of the sample, which affects the quality of required information. Widely available Brillouin instruments could help address this gap. This I-Corps project is focused on the development of Brillouin microscopy based on spectral analysis of light scattered from a sample, which allows production of high-resolution, three-dimensional maps of the longitudinal elastic modulus of materials. Brillouin spectroscopy has been widely used for material testing and environmental sensing. In the past two decades, a new type of spectrometer has improved the speed of acquisition to enable biological applications. The Brillouin technology developed in this project can be further sped up by multiplexing the readout to many points simultaneously. This multiplexed Brillouin microscopy expands the types of potential applications of the technology.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.