The purpose of this NCRR Shared Instrument Grant application is to secure funding to purchase a Small Animal Photoacoustic Imaging system (Vevo(R)LAZR) for the Shared Tumor Imaging Resource (STIR) at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). The STIR at RPCI provides customized scientific and technical small animal imaging services on a fee for service basis to NIH funded investigators at RPCI, the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY-Buffalo) and neighboring academic institutions in Western New York. Since 2005, the STIR has seen a steady growth in its utilization as a result of increased awareness of its imaging technologies achieved through active collaborations with institutional faculty and educational outreach programs instituted by STIR and RPCI. However, this positive change has also highlighted the need for state- of-the-art imaging technology to meet the expanding needs of RPCI research community. The Vevo LAZR platform is a high sensitivity system specifically designed for small animal imaging at a high resolution. In addition to anatomic or morphologic assessment of tumors, the system allows for molecular functional imaging of the tumor microenvironment in small animal models of disease. The sophisticated software platform allows for visualization and quantitative analysis of imaging datasets in an efficient and user-friendly manner. With the increased interest in personalized medicine and molecular targeted therapies for cancer, several NIH-funded programs at RPCI and SUNY-Buffalo are focused on understanding the changes in the tumor microenvironment during malignant progression and following therapy. These projects, some of which have been detailed in this application, will utilize the Vevo(R)LAZR system to (i) detect occult metastatic lesions in disease sites such as the kidney and liver, (ii) assess longitudinal changes in tumor morphology following treatment, (iii) visualize and quantify changes in tumor blood flow, (iv) map sentinel lymph nodes and lymphatics, (v) measure parameters such as oxygenation and hemoglobin saturation in tumors, and, (vi) investigate tumor-targeting ability of multifunctional nanoparticle. The availability of a user-friendly, portable imaging system at STIR would enable its users to effectively combine high-throughput anatomic imaging with quantitative, functional molecular imaging of tumors. Acquisition of the photoacoustic imaging system will not only enable STIR to meet the existing demand for this imaging technology but also facilitate further growth of STIR by increasing its imaging services and technologies available to researchers.
A high-resolution, high sensitivity photoacoustic imaging system is requested for the Shared Tumor Imaging Resource at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). The availability of a user-friendly, portable imaging system would enable multiple NCI/NIH-funded investigators at RPCI to effectively combine high throughput anatomic imaging with quantitative, functional molecular imaging for cancer research applications.
