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

活体成像是基础生命科学研究的重要组成部分，在临床上对多种疾病的诊断也起着至关重要的作用。与体外诊断不同，体内成像是非破坏性的和可重复的，但通常在给定的时间提供关于一个或两个生物参数的信息。研究或检测活体中的复杂疾病需要有关解剖、功能(例如，血氧饱和度)和分子生物标记物的信息。因此，结合传统成像技术的多模式成像方法--如磁共振成像、位置发射断层成像和X射线计算机断层成像--已经获得了临床上的重要地位。然而，这些多模式技术价格昂贵，不适合医疗点(POC)成像应用。这个职业项目将开发和集成光学、超声波和光声技术，并展示可靠的多模式POC成像。教育推广活动将为下一代生物医学成像设备创新培养女性和未被充分代表的K-12、本科生和研究生。这项提议的总体目标是建立一个以科学和工程为中心的综合研究、教育和推广计划，以下一代智能、负担得起、便携式和非电离、多模式成像和传感设备为中心。研究目标是开发一种新型的多模式光学、光声和超声成像平台，该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(K-12、本科生和研究生水平)，通过为教师举办的重点研讨会和研讨会、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，以及多模式传感和人工智能交叉的新教材，为推动智能生物医学成像和传感设备的创新培养STEM领导者。该奖项反映了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。

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.