Grant: Catalyst Grant: Invention and High-Risk, High-Benefit Research

Diffuse optical imaging is a new functional imaging modality with great promise in oncology. Optical mammography has emerged as a new imaging technique that is safe and can be used towards breast cancer screening. Recent clinical studies indicate that monitoring image contrast produced by optical blood pooling contrast agents may lead to enhanced diagnostic information. To be able to use this diagnostic information, new instruments need to be developed that can inform on the dynamical changes in optical images. However the optical technology to perform fast and spatially resolved pharmacokinetic measurements is lacking. The goal of this project is to develop a unique micromirror-based multispectral optical imager for in vivo real time 3D optical imaging of optical contrast agents. The instrument will be validated on a small animal model of cancer.