Multispectral and Hyperspectral Preclinical Imager Spanning the Visible, NIR-I and NIR-II

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Project Summary/Abstract This is a proposal from ten investigators from the College of Engineering, the College of Arts and Sciences and Sargent College at Boston University (BU) requesting purchase of a preclinical imager for photoluminescence and bioluminescence in mice. While the researchers at Boston University make extensive use of light-based optical imaging, primarily with advanced microscopy techniques on campus as well as off-campus in vivo imaging systems, there currently is no whole animal imaging capability on the BU Charles River Campus. Acquisition of a preclinical imager will allow the researchers to advance their NIH funded research programs that depend on the examination of complex, intact mammalian systems. The users propose the purchase of a first-to-market imager that will enable both traditional fluorescence and bioluminescence imaging in the visible and first near infrared (NIR-I) optical tissue window wavelength ranges (500 – 650 nm and 650 – 900 nm, respectively) as well as shortwave infrared (SWIR, also known as the second NIR optical tissue window or NIR-II) imaging. By using light in the 1000 – 1700 nm range, deeper penetration depths are achieved with less light scattering, leading to unprecedented clarity in tissue-depth light-based imaging. By designing a customized instrument to cover this extended wavelength range, the BU researchers will be able to continue current research directions that depend on traditional imaging more quickly and conveniently using local, on-campus equipment, while also hastening the funded development of SWIR contrast agents and enabling future directions using SWIR imaging that are beyond what is openly available to any researcher in the region. The users for the proposed instrument have a diversity of research interests. The proposed applications of the preclinical imager are typically focused on the tracking of engineered cells using bioluminescence, the imaging of tumors and vasculature with exogenous contrast agents, and the tracking of nanoparticles for nanomedicine applications. In this proposal, we describe the instrument we aim to acquire, the benefits of this particular instrument over others, provide a management plan for instrument use and cost recovery, and illustrate the institutional commitment to maintaining this resource. Overall, the acquisition of this preclinical imager will support projects focused on improving diverse aspects of human health and the treatment of disease.