# Multispectral and Hyperspectral Preclinical Imager Spanning the Visible, NIR-I and NIR-II

> **NIH NIH S10** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · 2021 · $404,300

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
This is a proposal from ten investigators from the College of Engineering, the College of Arts and Sciences and
Sargent College at Boston University (BU) requesting purchase of a preclinical imager for photoluminescence
and bioluminescence in mice. While the researchers at Boston University make extensive use of light-based
optical imaging, primarily with advanced microscopy techniques on campus as well as off-campus in vivo imaging
systems, there currently is no whole animal imaging capability on the BU Charles River Campus. Acquisition of
a preclinical imager will allow the researchers to advance their NIH funded research programs that depend on
the examination of complex, intact mammalian systems. The users propose the purchase of a first-to-market
imager that will enable both traditional fluorescence and bioluminescence imaging in the visible and first near
infrared (NIR-I) optical tissue window wavelength ranges (500 – 650 nm and 650 – 900 nm, respectively) as well
as shortwave infrared (SWIR, also known as the second NIR optical tissue window or NIR-II) imaging. By using
light in the 1000 – 1700 nm range, deeper penetration depths are achieved with less light scattering, leading to
unprecedented clarity in tissue-depth light-based imaging. By designing a customized instrument to cover this
extended wavelength range, the BU researchers will be able to continue current research directions that depend
on traditional imaging more quickly and conveniently using local, on-campus equipment, while also hastening
the funded development of SWIR contrast agents and enabling future directions using SWIR imaging that are
beyond what is openly available to any researcher in the region.
The users for the proposed instrument have a diversity of research interests. The proposed applications of the
preclinical imager are typically focused on the tracking of engineered cells using bioluminescence, the imaging
of tumors and vasculature with exogenous contrast agents, and the tracking of nanoparticles for nanomedicine
applications.
In this proposal, we describe the instrument we aim to acquire, the benefits of this particular instrument over
others, provide a management plan for instrument use and cost recovery, and illustrate the institutional
commitment to maintaining this resource. Overall, the acquisition of this preclinical imager will support projects
focused on improving diverse aspects of human health and the treatment of disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10193523
- **Project number:** 1S10OD030510-01
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS)
- **Principal Investigator:** David A Boas
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $404,300
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10193523

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10193523, Multispectral and Hyperspectral Preclinical Imager Spanning the Visible, NIR-I and NIR-II (1S10OD030510-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10193523. Licensed CC0.

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