# Time-resolved laser speckle contrast imaging of resting-state functional connectivity in neonatal brain

> **NIH NIH R42** · BIOPTICSTECHNOLOGY, LLC · 2024 · $929,560

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Continuous monitoring of neonatal brain development is crucial for effective management of brain injury and
associated complications, thus reducing healthcare burden and costs. One rapidly developing method for early
characterization of abnormal brain development is to map resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) across
distinct regions of the brain. However, currently available neuroimaging technologies are either expensive and
difficult to use continuously (fMRI and PET) or lack the combination of temporal-spatial resolution and large field-
of-view (FOV) to image distributed rs-FC (EEG and near-infrared spectroscopy and tomography). In collaboration
with University of Kentucky inventors, Bioptics Technology is developing, validating, and commercializing a
revolutionary time-resolved laser speckle contrast imaging (TR-LSCI) technology that enables noncontact, fast,
high-resolution imaging of cerebral blood flow (CBF) over a large FOV. TR-LSCI illuminates picosecond-pulsed,
widefield, coherent, near-infrared light onto the brain and synchronizes a newly developed, picosecond-gated,
high-resolution, single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) camera for 2D mapping of cerebral blood flow (CBF) at
different depths into the head. By applying the time-gated strategy, TR-LSCI differentiates short and long photon
paths through the layered head tissues at different depths, thus eliminating the need for time-consuming complex
3D reconstruction in near-infrared diffuse optical tomography technologies. In preliminary studies, continuous
mapping of CBF at different depths has been demonstrated by a lab-made benchtop TR-LSCI prototype in flow-
simulating phantoms and in vivo rodents. In this Fast Track STTR proposal through two phases, we will develop,
optimize, validate, and commercialize a user-friendly portable TR-LSCI device for fast, high-solution, and
multiscale imaging of CBF and rs-FC in neonatal rodents (Phase 1) and neonatal piglets (Phase 2). Specifically,
Phase 1 will optimize and assess the benchtop TR-LSCI prototype for imaging CBF and extracting rs-FC (derived
from time-course CBF images) in neonatal rodents with perinatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
Neonatal rats are used in this Phase 1 feasibility test to de-risk the TR-LSCI before its full-scale development in
neonatal piglets during Phase 2. HIE is selected to study as it affects 2-9 babies per 1000 term births and is
associated with severe neurodevelopmental problems and mortality. Phase 2 will develop, optimize, and assess
a user-friendly portable TR-LSCI device for continuous imaging of CBF and rs-FC in neonatal piglets with HIE.
Neonatal piglets are selected to study as their head size and post-HIE pathology are analogous to human
neonates. TR-LSCI results will be correlated with MRI results and clinical outcomes to identify biomarkers for
assessing neonatal brain injury after HIE. While this proposal tests it on HIE models of neonatal rats and piglets
as the first s...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10950843
- **Project number:** 4R42MH135825-02
- **Recipient organization:** BIOPTICSTECHNOLOGY, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Guoqiang Yu
- **Activity code:** R42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $929,560
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2024-08-01 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10950843

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10950843, Time-resolved laser speckle contrast imaging of resting-state functional connectivity in neonatal brain (4R42MH135825-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10950843. Licensed CC0.

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