# Groundwork for a Synchrotron MicroCT Imaging Resource for Biology (SMIRB)

> **NIH NIH R24** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV HERSHEY MED CTR · 2021 · $146,598

## Abstract

Abstract
In the current supplement, we request funds to build and test a custom lens and camera system that enables
an unprecedented combination of 12 mm diameter field-of-view at 0.7 µm isotropic voxel resolution. Our
objective is to expand the utility of synchrotron microCT proposed in the parent award to enable full-
volume 3D imaging at cell resolution samples as wide as 12 mm, such as human biopsies and mouse
tissues, and to create a web-based integrative bio-atlas that provides a critical means of comparisons,
multi-scale, and multi-modal integrations. This effort will significantly broaden the application of
synchrotron microCT to a wide range of sample sizes and model system samples, which will yield 3D
image data critical for the development of computational phenomics. We intend to make these 3D
images publicly available on a web-based “bio-atlas” to function as a foundation for the creation of a
multi-model multi-modal reference atlas, inclusive of histology, 3D image data, and -omics data. We will
achieve these goals through three interrelated specific aims: 1) confirm the theoretical resolution and
imaging speed of the lens and camera system in our in-house microCT system using real samples, 2)
compare image quality and image speeds obtained with the lens and camera system using synchrotron
sources with those on our local source, and 3) create a integrative web-based infrastructure to host 2D
and 3D data and develop multiple tools for viewing, labeling, and cross-referencing to allow
comparison-based validation of animal models of human disease. The pan-cellular, full volume nature
of the 3D images will add invaluable spatial information to histology, immunohistochemistry,
immunofluorescence, and transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10406016
- **Project number:** 3R24OD018559-07S2
- **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV HERSHEY MED CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Keith Chi Cheng
- **Activity code:** R24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $146,598
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2015-08-15 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10406016

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10406016, Groundwork for a Synchrotron MicroCT Imaging Resource for Biology (SMIRB) (3R24OD018559-07S2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10406016. Licensed CC0.

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