| NSF Org: |
TI Translational Impacts |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | May 13, 2020 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | March 17, 2022 |
| Award Number: | 2017396 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Ruth Shuman
rshuman@nsf.gov (703)292-2160 TI Translational Impacts TIP Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships |
| Start Date: | May 15, 2020 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $50,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $50,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
695 PARK AVE NEW YORK NY US 10065-5024 (212)772-4020 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
695 Park Ave New York NY US 10065-5024 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | I-Corps |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.084 |
ABSTRACT
The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to enable robust, rapid, and label-free biological sample evaluation. Cancer is a worldwide public health problem, and its diagnosis currently depends on evaluation of specimens of biological material. Time-efficient and objective alternative methods are urgently needed to address several shortcomings of the existing process, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and subject to interpreter variations. The proposed project is a validated method using light on unprocessed or minimally processed cell and tissue specimens. The proposed method particularly meets the demands of rapid and accurate diagnosis in surgical suites and telepathology laboratories.
This I-Corps project is to advance the translation of chemometric fluorescence microscopic imaging and virtual staining (CFM-VS) on unstained cell and tissue specimens. Using endogenous cellular fluorescence, CFM produces 2D images revealing both subcellular morphology and function, visually differentiating specific cell properties including structure, cellular metabolism, and protein production. One unique advantage of CFM is the quantification of the absolute concentration of the endogenous fluorescent biomolecules, enabling reliable and accurate diagnosis. CFM and the derived virtual staining (CFM-VS) have been successfully applied to differentiate and diagnose lung and prostate cancers. The virtually stained images for unstained histological slides not only share the morphology of traditional hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained image counterparts, but also indicate the biochemical alterations due to cancer. Attractive features of CFM-VS include: ability to image unprocessed or minimally processed cell and tissue sections in close to real-time; yields virtual H&E stained images familiar to pathologists; eliminates distortions introduced in tissue processing; and robust diagnosis is achieved and may be improved through adaption of the algorithm from learning with the accumulation of data.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This I-corps project explores the commercialization potential of chemometric fluorescence microscopic imaging and virtual staining (CFM-VS) for cancer diagnosis. The time requirement and associated evaluation costs are one bottleneck of current histopathology practice. As an alternative approach, CFM-VS can rapidly map tissue morphology and metabolism on unstained tissue sections with minimal or no tissue processing and produce images similar to traditional hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained ones from virtual staining. The I-corps team participated in the I-Corps Spring 2020 cohort and received training in engaging with the industry, talking to customers, partners, and competitors, and anticipating the uncertainty and excitement of creating successful innovations. During the project's performance period, we visited medical research institutions and hospitals. We participated in virtual and in-person conferences and tradeshows. In addition, we conducted extensive interviews with pathologists, technicians, clinicians, healthcare managers, and device manufacturers. Through these interviews and outreach, we identified the market needs, defined the value proposition of our technology, and performed a preliminary cost analysis. Histopathology is currently under a transition to digital and demands speed and quality at a lower cost. As a result, we concluded that the minimal viable product (MVP) is a rapid virtual staining microscope system for fresh or frozen section biopsy specimens in a large urban hospital pathology department to replace the traditional time-consuming frozen and H&E biopsy.
Last Modified: 04/02/2023
Modified by: Min Xu
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