In Vivo Non-Invasive Optical Imaging Approaches for Biological Systems (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trials Not Allowed

RFA-RM-24-012

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is part of the NIH Common Fund Venture Program, which provides opportunities for fast-paced, short-term, and potentially transformative applied research efforts addressing critical needs within the biomedical community. Venture-supported efforts are intended to take bold steps towards the practical realization of novel technologies and/or knowledge to accelerate the application of new tools and capabilities in a health-relevant space. Efforts supported by Venture have a maximum three-year funding period and require project-specific metrics and milestones used to guide and assess research progress during the performance period.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity supports the Venture Program initiative Advancing Non-Invasive Optical Imaging Approaches for Biological System (NIOI) and will use the UG3/UH3 phased cooperative agreement mechanism.  NIOI seeks to develop integrated technologies that can radically increase the depth, speed and scope of imaging in a wide range of biological systems, The ability to improve the imaging depth as well as spatial and temporal resolution of optical technologies in living tissues would permit measurements at multiple scales: from regional, to cellular, to subcellular, to molecular to reveal physiological and pathophysiological processes in real time. NIOI will advance the field of optical imaging to improve diagnostic, interventional, and research applications.

Many of the biggest advances in biology and medicine have come from applications of optical imaging and spectroscopy methodologies. Imaging live tissue is a mainstay for both clinical and research activities, but there are physical properties of biological tissues that must be overcome to realize potential advantages of optical-based imaging approaches for both recording from and intervening in physiological activities.

Morphological features, spatial organization into functional units within tissues, and the dynamics associated with their activities are all critical to how we study and interpret biological and disease processes. Optical approaches can further enable the ability to make measurements at the biological timescale. Optical imaging plays a pivotal role in how we study and interact with biological systems. Optical methods have the great benefit of being able to resolve images across scales providing a large operational range of observable and quantifiable features from a single imaging session. However, there are barriers such as tissue scattering that limits the penetration depth of optical imaging and its applications in both research and clinical practice.

Recent innovations have pointed to a near-future possibility of being able to improve the depth of imaging in complex tissues, particularly with respect to approaches that push optical interfaces beyond the limits of diffraction and address the problem of light scattering in tissues. Methods to increase imaging depth using reconstruction techniques, computational approaches that improve resolution from noisy data collection, and adjunct imaging modalities to facilitate light penetration in complex media are all being demonstrated in various model systems but have yet to be matured and advanced into a form that can be used for in vivo and clinical imaging.

It is expected that the NIOI Initiative will result in the development and validation of integrated non-invasive or minimally-invasive optical imaging-based systems to provide structural and/or functional images across scale from cell-to-tissue level within living biological systems that can overcome the problem of light scattering and enable greater penetration depth. By the conclusion of the three-year period of performance supported by NIOI, in vivo demonstrations of the approaches in appropriate biological model systems must have been conducted and compared for performance evaluation against at least one comparable system in routine current use for research and/or diagnostic imaging. The technologies and methods developed through this initiative will change the landscape of diverse optical imaging modalities, currently limited by penetration depth, and will advance high precision clinical translation. 

The NIOI initiative requires innovation and integration across multiple disciplines, such as, engineering, physics, biology, and physiology. This notice strongly encourages the assembly of a team with the required diverse expertise and perspectives, that demonstrates evidence of past productive collaboration and/or commitment to realizing the goals of the effort as a team.

Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.

February 07, 2025

March 07, 2025

Jonathan D. Pollock, Ph.D.
Chief
Genetics, Epigenetics, and Developmental Neuroscience Branch
Division of Neuroscience and Behavior
National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH
Tel: 301-435-1309
Cell: 240-409-4873
Email: jpollock@mail.nih.gov