# Rapid infrared biomedical imaging at high pixel density with a sCMOS camera

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 2022 · $176,874

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
A genuine label-free imaging technology, vibrational microscopy provides maps of cells and tissues with
exceptionally high chemical contrast as it directly probes the fundamental vibrationals modes of samples.
Vibrational imaging approaches include IR-absorption micro-spectroscopy and confocal Raman microscopy,
methods that have been successfully commercialized (a growing 500 million dollar market) and are now
common tools of inquiry found in analytical and biological laboratories. Given the much stronger IR light-matter
interaction, IR microscopy has a particularly high potential to make a measurable impact in the fields of biology
and biomedicine. At the same time, the mid-IR (MIR) imaging technology has remained stagnant, as MIR
technology still relies on cooled cameras with low pixel density, preventing practical applications in efficient
mapping of cultured cells and tissue sections. This proposal aims to introduce a radically new MIR detection
approach that overcomes the fundamental hurdles that have plagued a broader implementation of traditional
MIR cameras. We propose that direct, on-chip MIR detection can be achieved in an sCMOS camera through
the process of non-degenerate two-photon absorption (NTA) enabled by a near-infrared gate pulse. By
replacing cryogenically cooled MIR arrayed detectors with a modern sCMOS camera, the proposed work
overcomes a key limitation in MIR microscopy and represents an important step toward a more practical
implementation of MIR imaging in the biomedical sciences.
 Our team includes experts in biomedical vibrational imaging and nonlinear optics, and our preliminary
data underlines the feasibility of the NTA method for MIR detection. In the proposed work we push NTA for use
with modern sCMOS cameras, determine its utility for MIR microscopy and compare its performance for
biomedical imaging applications with established MIR microspectroscopy methods.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10411952
- **Project number:** 5R21GM141774-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Eric Olaf Potma
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $176,874
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-06-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10411952

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10411952, Rapid infrared biomedical imaging at high pixel density with a sCMOS camera (5R21GM141774-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10411952. Licensed CC0.

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