Biophotonics: Multi-Modal Miniature Microscopes for Detection of Pre-Cancer

这个跨学科研究项目的目标是开发微型显微镜，这种显微镜可以利用光与组织的多种形式相互作用来成像体内的形态和细胞化学，从而产生更好地描绘肿瘤的工具。研究人员设想了钢笔大小、电池供电的多模式微型显微镜(4ms)，旨在专门成像癌症前期的显微和分子特征。拟议的微型显微镜被称为多模式，因为它们有可能实现不同的成像模式，如光学切片、3-D光谱荧光成像和反射成像。这些显微镜的尺寸和成本将足够小，以便它们可以用于大规模的疾病筛查。这些工具由于其非常紧凑的尺寸和成像能力，将在许多器官部位具有广泛的适用性。研究人员将首先应用这些工具来改进口腔癌前病变的检测，因为口腔很容易接触到。此外，汇集的多学科专业知识使研究人员能够以包罗万象的方式处理微型成像传感器的设计。除了开发4M设备外，研究人员还将设计专门针对与癌前疾病相关的分子改变的造影剂，这些造影剂可以局部应用，以显著扩大微型显微镜的成像能力。

0086736DescourThe goal of this interdisciplinary research project is to develop miniature microscopes that can utilize the interaction of light with tissues in many modalities to image morphology and cytochemistry in vivo, yielding tools that provide better delineation of tumors. The investigators envision pen-sized, battery-powered multi-modal miniature microscopes (4Ms) designed to specifically image microscopic and molecular features of pre-cancer. The proposed miniature microscopes are being called multi-modal because of their potential for enabling different imaging modalities such as optical sectioning, 3-D spectral fluorescence imaging, and reflectance imaging. The size and cost of these microscopes will be small enough so that they can be used for wide-scale screening of disease. These tools will have broad applicability in many organ sites due to their very compact size and capability for imaging. The investigators will first apply these tools to improve detection of oral-cavity pre-cancers because of the oral cavity's easy accessibility. Furthermore, the assembled multidisciplinary expertise empowers the investigators to treat the design of miniaturized imaging sensors in an all-inclusive manner. In addition to developing 4M devices, the investigators will also design contrast agents specific for molecular alterations associated with pre-cancer that can be applied topically to significantly expand the imaging capability of miniature microscopes.