Objective
Measuring the electrical activity of neurons in vivo is of paramount importance to understand the underlying principles of the brain. Current imaging techniques fail to capture this activity across the entire brain with sufficient spatial or temporal resolutions, while leaving brain tissue intact. Non-linear fluorescence microscopy, the most widespread optical imaging modality in system neurobiology, provides optical diffraction limited resolution and high frame rate, but is limited to shallow depth due to light scattering in tissue. Single-neuron activity in brain regions deeper than one millimeter can therefore not be probed.
Combining widefield optical excitation and ultrasonic detection, photoacoustic imaging has emerged in the last decades as a powerful technique to image of optically contrasted objects embedded deep inside biological tissue. It relies on the emission of ultrasound waves upon the absorption of a light pulse. As ultrasound are only weakly scattered when propagating in soft tissue, optically absorbing structures can be reconstructed from the sole measurement of the ultrasound field at the tissue surface.
The highest spatial resolution is currently achieved using optical sensors of pressure waves, which exhibit a better sensitivity to high ultrasound frequencies compared to conventional piezoelectric detectors. However, single-cell resolution is still beyond the reach of such sensors, and the underlying sequential acquisition process prevent from imaging at sufficient frame rate.
To address this challenge, I will develop new sensors and associated interrogation techniques with 1) high acquisition speed and 2) high sensitivity at high acoustic frequencies, to resolve temporally and spatially the activity of single neurons. This will enable to 3) image non-invasively neuronal activity at unprecedented depth of several millimeters in vivo in the mouse brain.
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 biological sciences neurobiology
- natural sciences physical sciences optics microscopy
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors
- natural sciences physical sciences acoustics ultrasound
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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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HORIZON.1.1 - 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
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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.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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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-2023-STG
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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.
75794 Paris
France
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