Project description
Focusing light inside tissue with unprecedented resolution
Biomedical imaging, laser surgery, and other light-based methods require accurate focusing of light in the interior of biological tissue. Current techniques are limited in their ability to operate at depths over a fraction of a millimetre in the tissue. The EU-funded DEEP project aims to develop a non-invasive method to focus light inside tissue at a depth of a millimetre or above in real time, while maintaining subcellular spatial confinement. By leveraging the deep penetration of ultrasound and its ability to locally modify the optical properties of a sample, the system will generate in situ virtual endoscopes that will act as embedded optical lenses or waveguides inside living tissue, thus redirecting light deeper.
Objective
Subcellular light focusing is the primary enabler of a number of characterization, diagnosis and treatment tools in biomedicine and life sciences, including microscopy and spectroscopy techniques or phototherapies. However, limited by the scattering of light, current approaches are only optimized to operate at depths below a fraction of a millimeter inside tissue. Deeper light focusing – which is fundamental for sound biological conclusions or accurate treatments –always comes at the expense of increased invasiveness, restricted sample availability, or loss of spatial or temporal precision.
The overall objective of DEEP is to overcome the above limitations and develop an original non-invasive strategy to focus light inside tissue at a millimeter depth (or above) and in real-time while maintaining subcellular spatial confinement. Specifically, by exploiting the deep penetration of ultrasound and its ability to locally modify the optical properties of a sample, we will generate in-situ virtual endoscopes that will act as embedded optical lenses or waveguides inside living tissue, thus redirecting light toward a deeper focus.
Throughout DEEP, we will implement a hybrid ultrasonic-optical system able to (i) generate ultrasonic endoscopes with particular shapes and propagation characteristics that maximize the coupling and guiding of light inside tissue; (ii) operate in synergy with cutting-edge imaging methods such as two-photon or optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy to extend their imaging depth; (iii) analyze via fluorescence correlation spectroscopy the intracellular dynamics inside organoids at microsecond temporal resolution; (iv) combine laser-irradiation therapies with the real-time in-situ monitoring of the structural changes induced inside tissue.
Ultrasonic-enabled virtual endoscopes will lead to an unprecedented control of light inside living systems, opening the door to transformative advances in personalized medicine and molecular biology.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences physical sciences optics microscopy
- medical and health sciences health sciences personalized medicine
- natural sciences physical sciences acoustics ultrasound
- natural sciences biological sciences molecular biology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
08007 Barcelona
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.