# TRD2: Functional Imaging

> **NIH NIH P41** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2020 · $338,401

## Abstract

Project Summary
TRD 2
TRD project 2 will develop novel optical coherence tomography (OCT) technologies to address unmet
needs in the functional imaging of tissue. Specific Aim #1 addresses the need for high-speed and high-
resolution angiographic imaging systems for preclinical research. A new high-speed optical architecture
for high-resolution optical coherence microscopy (OCM) will be constructed that is 100 times faster than
existing OCM instrumentation. These improvements in speed will be leveraged to expand high
resolution angiography and quantitative flow imaging to wider imaging fields, and to improve the
temporal resolution of these measurements. Specific Aim #2 builds upon the recent development of
long depth range, high-speed OCT architectures to create an intraoperative OCT camera platform.
Vectorial birefringence imaging through polarization-sensitive OCT will be incorporated into the camera
system to allow imagining of optical birefringence across a surgical field. While this platform technology
can have application in numerous surgical procedures, it will be specifically validated as a means for
functional imaging of peripheral nerve injuries. Finally, specific aim #3 addresses the need for
improved tools to study lung function in small animal models of chronic inflammatory disease and cystic
fibrosis (CF). To study the consequences of inflammation-driven lymphatic remodeling on lung function,
catheters and methods to image the collecting lymphatics of the mouse trachea will be developed and
validated. Using similar catheters and a new set of imaging methods, an in vivo platform providing
measurements of airway surface liquid properties and mucociliary transport in ferret models of CF will
be demonstrated. Through these aims, TRD project 2 will develop, validate, and deliver innovative new
OCT technologies to our collaborating project investigators and to the broader research community.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9977192
- **Project number:** 5P41EB015903-10
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Benjamin James Vakoc
- **Activity code:** P41 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $338,401
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9977192

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9977192, TRD2: Functional Imaging (5P41EB015903-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9977192. Licensed CC0.

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