Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

The past two decades have witnessed the emergence of a wide array of optical imaging modalities used in biology and medicine for observing tissues at the architectural (e.g. optical tomography techniques), cellular (e.g. confocal microscopy) or molecular (e.g. spectroscopy) levels. Confocal microscopy used in conjunction with fluorescent dyes, nano-particles and quantum dots has permitted the elucidation of many fundamental biological pathways. However in the clinical world, optical imaging is limited to natural contrast mechanisms as very few contrast agents are approved for use in human. Despite this constraint, confocal endoscopy has already made tremendous progress allowing in vivo cellular visualization of internal organs such as the colon, cervix and vocal folds. Additional contrast could be achieved by combining reflectance techniques with altered signals coming from molecules such as elastin and collagen, which are naturally abundant in human tissues. The objective of the proposed research program is to exploit linear and non-linear photon-tissue interactions to increase the contrast and specificity of microscopy images in ways that are compatible with constraints associated with the geometry of imaging endoscopes. The multimodal microscope developed with this research grant will allow looking at biological structures from different perspectives simultaneously, to gain a better understanding of the interaction of light with cells and molecules. This combined approach will identify cellular signatures that will be incorporated into the next generation of medical imaging endoscopes to obtain more accurate diagnoses at earlier stages, where chances of survival and cure are the greatest.