Fiber-Delivered Programmable Supercontinuum Laser Adaptive to EvolvingNeurophotonic Research

光纤传输的可编程超连续谱激光器适应不断发展的神经光子学研究

• 批准号: 9915977
• 负责人: Matthew Durack
• 金额: $ 43.26万
• 依托单位: LIVEBX, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-04-15 至 2022-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9915977
• 关键词: Academia; Achievement; Action Potentials; Address; Anatomy; Animals; Area; BRAIN initiative; Behavioral Research; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical Engineering; Biophotonics; Brain; Brain Diseases; Brain imaging; Businesses; Cells; Collaborations; Communities; Coupled; Devices; Electrophysiology (science); Energy Metabolism; Engineering; Environment; Fiber; Formalin; Frequencies; Generations; Genetic; Goals; Head; Histopathology; Hospitals; Human; Image; In Vitro; Industrialization; Intervention; Label; Laboratories; Laboratory Animals; Lasers; Metabolic; Microscope; Mus; Neurons; Neurosciences; Neurosurgeon; Operating Rooms; Operative Surgical Procedures; Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures; Optics; Organoids; Outcome; Output; Pathologist; Pathology; Performance; Phase; Phase Transition; Phenotype; Physiologic pulse; Population; Pre-Clinical Model; Production; Research; Research Personnel; Research Priority; Resolution; Rodent; Scientist; Shapes; Slice; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Source; Specialist; Structure; Surgeon; Surgical margins; Synapses; System; Technology; Testing; Time; Tissues; Training; Translating; United States National Institutes of Health; Vascularization; Veterinarians; Work; animal facility; base; brain research; brain surgery; brain tissue; calcium indicator; commercialization; driving force; drug development; drug discovery; holographic stimulation; imaging probe; improved; in vivo; in vivo imaging; innovative technologies; medical specialties; metrology; miniaturize; multidisciplinary; neural circuit; neural network; operation; optogenetics; photonics; portability; pre-clinical; prevent; programs; prototype; radiologist; real-time images; relating to nervous system; research and development; spatiotemporal; therapeutic development; tool; user-friendly

SUMMARY Neurophotonics, including the prominent example of optogenetics, has been the driving force for brain research and one focal area of the NIH BRAIN Initiative established in 2013. In contrast to the genetic and biophotonic advancements that have transformed this field, the progress in laser source technology underlying these advancements has lagged behind, resulting in three technical barriers that limit the next level of scientific achievement in brain and behavioral sciences: (1) neuroscientists and biophotonic scientists have been limited by readily available commercial lasers that may not be the best solutions for their intended applications, due largely to the lack of full tunability in parameters such as wavelength, power, and temporal profile; (2) the user- unfriendly operation of tunable customer or commercial lasers has hindered the extension of laser source technology beyond non-laser experts and dedicated optical laboratories, and (3) the lack of adaption of installed lasers with free-space beam delivery often render them obsolete when new neuroscience needs and applications emerge. A fiber-deliverable programmable supercontinuum laser, based on systematic preliminary work in an academic laboratory, has potential to simultaneously overcome the three technical barriers. The prototype of this laser has shown promise to be applicable to general neuroscience, including diverse species (small animals, rodents, and humans), states (in vitro/ex vivo, head-fixed, and freely behaving), settings (optical laboratory, animal facility, pathology department, and operating room), operators (laser experts, imaging neuroscientists, veterinarians, pathologists, and neurosurgeons), and goals (basic study, therapeutics development, drug discovery, precision pathology, intraoperative assessment, and laser-assisted surgeries). It is thus desirable to seek further R&D opportunity in a small business environment, in order to allow wide access to this laser by the neuroscience community not trained extensively in laser source engineering. In this project, the R&D effort will first aim to overcome the remaining technical obstacles that hinder the seamless integration of coherent fiber supercontinuum generation and programmable pulse shaping, two photonic technologies dispensable for laser source engineering per se but indispensable for the laser source engineering that targets neuroscience. Subsequently, this laser will be tested in two prototypical systems broadly representative of neurophotonic applications with and without neural intervention. The construction of a more reliable prototype of this laser and the demonstration of its feasibility in the two prototypical neurophotonic systems will enable smooth transition of this R&D effort (SBIR Phase I) to Phase II stage. The whole project may ultimately facilitate wide access to cutting-edge ultrafast laser technology by the broad neuroscience community, in consistency with one goal of the NIH BRAIN Initiative to translate innovative technologies for brain or behavioral research from academia to the marketplace.

概括 神经素器（包括光遗传学的突出例子）一直是大脑研究的驱动力 以及2013年建立的NIH脑倡议的一个焦点区域。与遗传和生物流通相比 改变了这一领域的进步，激光源技术的进步是这些领域 进步已经落后，导致了三个限制了科学水平的技术障碍 大脑和行为科学的成就：（1）神经科学家和生物学科学家受到限制 通过随时可用的商业激光器，可能不是其预期应用的最佳解决方案 在很大程度上缺乏参数（例如波长，功率和时间剖面）的全部可调节性； （2）用户 - 可调客户或商业激光器的不友好操作阻碍了激光源的扩展 超越非激光专家和专门的光学实验室的技术，以及（3）缺乏适应 带有自由空间光束传递的激光通常会在新的神经科学需要时使它们过时并且 申请出现。基于系统的初步 在学术实验室工作，有可能同时克服这三个技术障碍。 该激光器的原型表明有望适用于一般神经科学，包括多样化 物种（小动物，啮齿动物和人类），状态（体外/ex Vivo，头部固定和自由行为），设置 （光学实验室，动物设施，病理部和手术室），运营商（激光专家， 成像神经科学家，兽医，病理学家和神经外科医生）和目标（基础研究，治疗学 发育，药物发现，精确病理，术中评估和激光辅助手术）。 因此，希望在小型企业环境中寻求进一步的研发机会，以便允许广泛 神经科学社区访问该激光器，未经激光来源工程进行广泛培训。在这个 项目，研发工作将首先旨在克服剩下的技术障碍，阻碍无缝 连贯的纤维超纤维生成和可编程脉冲成型的整合，两个光子 用于激光源工程本身的技术可分配，但对于激光源工程而言是必不可少的 这针对神经科学。随后，该激光器将在两个原型系统中进行测试 有或没有神经干预的神经照射应用的代表。构造更多 该激光器的可靠原型及其在两个原型神经摄影中的可行性证明 系统将使这种研发工作（SBIR I期）平稳过渡到II期阶段。整个项目 最终可能有助于广泛通过广泛的神经科学进入尖端的超快激光技术 社区，与NIH大脑计划的一个目标一致，以翻译创新技术 从学术界到市场的大脑或行为研究。