STTR Phase I: An ultrasonic device for rapid tomographic rodent tissue and vasculature imaging

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将建立一种使用超声波量化啮齿动物疾病的最先进的成像工具。美国每年在临床前药物疗效研究上花费数亿美元，因为所有候选癌症疗法都必须在啮齿动物身上进行筛选，然后才能进行临床试验。学术和行业药物研究人员利用非侵入性成像方式来评估他们的药物在体内的纵向影响。体内成像研究使研究人员能够评估肿瘤的存在、功能状态和对治疗的反应，而不需要在每个评估时间点牺牲多个动物。尽管临床前成像的需求很广泛，但大多数研究实验室都没有配备进行这些研究所需的成像工具。该项目将实施超声成像，它不仅仅是简单的解剖结构信息，最近在血管结构和血液灌流评估方面表现出了出色的成像质量，并且比用于获取解剖图像的其他方式MR和CT具有几个优势：低成本、便携性和实时成像能力。该项目建议建立一种高通量、用户友好、基于台式超声波的啮齿动物断层成像设备。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力基于这样一个前提，即更便宜、更快的成像研究将导致学术界和产业界更快地开发药物，并最终为消费者提供更便宜的药物。目前，由于成像系统成本较高，学术研究机构提供共享空间模式的成像核心设施(ICF)。对于行业研究人员来说，合同研究组织(CRO)发挥着同样的作用。ICF和CRO对他们的服务收取溢价。一种廉价和用户友好的临床前解剖学和血管定量技术将极大地改变这一范式。此外，这将有助于打开一个渗透率最低(10%)的临床前成像市场(目前，该市场的销售额约为3亿美元)。尽管市场上有许多好的超声系统，但临床前研究界无法利用超声的资产(廉价、便携、实时)来应用于许多应用，因为没有制造商提供全身系统。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will build a state of the art imaging tool for rodent disease quantification using ultrasound. Hundreds of millions of dollars in the US are spent annually on preclinical drug efficacy studies, as all candidate cancer therapeutics must be screened in rodents prior to any clinical trials. Academic and industry drug researchers make use of noninvasive imaging modalities to assess the in vivo longitudinal effects of their drugs. In vivo imaging studies enable researchers to assess tumor presence, functional status, and response to therapy without the need to sacrifice multiple animals at each assessment time point. Despite the widespread need for preclinical imaging, most research labs are not equipped with the imaging tools necessary to perform these studies. The project will implement ultrasound imaging, which beyond simple anatomical structural information, has recently demonstrated outstanding imaging quality for vascular architecture and blood perfusion assessment, and has several advantages over MR and CT, the other modalities used to acquire anatomical images: low cost, portability, and real-time imaging ability. The project proposes to build a high throughput, user-friendly, benchtop ultrasound-based tomographic rodent imaging device. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is based around the premise that cheaper and faster imaging studies will result in faster drug development in both academia and industry, and ultimately less expensive drugs for the consumer. Currently, due to high imaging system costs, academic research institutions offer imaging core facilities (ICFs) with a shared-space model. For industry researchers, contract research organizations (CROs) perform the same function. ICFs and CROs charge a premium for their services. An inexpensive and user-friendly preclinical technology for anatomical and vasculature quantitation would dramatically shift this paradigm. Moreover, it would help open up a minimally (10%) penetrated preclinical imaging market (currently, under-addressed at approximately $300M in sales). Though there are many good ultrasound systems on the market, the preclinical research community cannot leverage the assets of ultrasound (inexpensive, portable, real time) for many applications because no manufacturer provides a whole-body system..