# Imaging Molecular Level Details of Collagen Fibers by VSFG Microscopy

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2023 · $81,215

## Abstract

Project Summary
I plan to add a single hyperspectral detection unit to a new nonlinear vibrational microscope developed in
my lab. This detection unit is composed of a spectrograph and an electron-multiplying charge-coupled
device (EMCCD) camera. This unit will enable single-molecule/super-resolution vibrational imaging. We
will carry out the research in two stages. The first stage is to verify that the new vibrational imaging
technique can detect vibrationally encoded photoluminescent signals of single molecules in standard
samples. The second stage uses this single-molecule capacity to image biological systems with a sub-
diffraction-limit optical resolution of <300 nm. This new development will revolutionize infrared imaging
techniques by enabling unprecedented single-molecule sensitivity. Furthermore, this new single-molecule
imaging technique can overcome the issue of limited color channels in photoluminescence (PL) based
microscopy. Our long-term vision is to enable new hyperspectral imaging techniques for biophysical and
biomedical applications, with unprecedented multiplexing color channels and a new approach of super-
resolution imaging that can follow the time evolution of molecular functional groups during metabolism
and other biological processes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10793165
- **Project number:** 3R35GM138092-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Wei Xiong
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $81,215
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-15 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10793165

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10793165, Imaging Molecular Level Details of Collagen Fibers by VSFG Microscopy (3R35GM138092-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10793165. Licensed CC0.

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