# Center for Biomedical OCT Research and Translation

> **NIH NIH P41** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2020 · $420,000

## Abstract

Project Summary
Recent progress in the Center for Biomedical OCT Research and Translation has resulted in 1) the
ability to detect and map polarimetric signatures for tissue characterization, and 2) fast and effective
methods for quantitative angiographic imaging with microscopic resolution over fields of view as large
as 10’s of cubic centimeters. Motivated by recent insights from autopsy and clinical studies of
Alzheimer’s disease patients, we seek to extend our polarimetry and angiography capabilities to
retinal sensing in order to enable new breakthroughs in noninvasive biomarkers for detecting and
monitoring this disease. Specifically, we will extend our methods for precise, rapid, and robust
polarimetric and quantitative angiographic retinal optical coherence tomography and will demonstrate
feasibility and reproducibility of these methods in human volunteers. At the conclusion of this work,
we will have a clinical imaging system suitable for integration into ongoing clinical research under the
direction of Dr. Peter Snyder, a leading Alzheimer’s disease investigator.
Relevance
Recent studies suggest that almost 40 percent of US adults 50 and older are at risk for the
development of Alzheimer’s disease. Even though it is unclear how many of these patients will
develop dementia, the potential implications are staggering. While ongoing research aims to identify
new therapeutic strategies to reduce risk or diminish progression, there is a clear need for novel
techniques that could be widely deployed for objective clinical diagnosis and assessment. The
proposed methods are noninvasive and could potentially be rapidly integrated into an existing
infrastructure of ophthalmic instrumentation to meet this need.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10123566
- **Project number:** 3P41EB015903-10S1
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Brett E Bouma
- **Activity code:** P41 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $420,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2011-07-21 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10123566

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10123566, Center for Biomedical OCT Research and Translation (3P41EB015903-10S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10123566. Licensed CC0.

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