A deep understanding of biological processes is essential for effectively treating diseases. As part of the EU-funded project SWIMMOT, an expert team of the Molecular Diagnostics Group, AIT Center for Health and Bioresources, led by Stefan Schrittwieser, is developing a new technology to significantly enhance optical imaging techniques. The goal is to specifically eliminate disruptive background noise in microscopic and tomographic images, greatly improving precision in medical imaging.
Optical imaging methods such as photoacoustic imaging or optical coherence tomography enable researchers to visualize cellular and molecular processes. However, the effectiveness of these techniques is often compromised by background noise, obscuring relevant biological structures. To address this challenge, the research team uses tailor-made nanoparticles as contrast agents. These particles have specific optical, magnetic, and biological properties, allowing them to be selectively activated or deactivated ("ON" and "OFF"). "By selectively switching our specially developed nanoparticles ON and OFF, we can completely eliminate disruptive background noise from optical images for the first time. This will enable us to visualize biological processes such as insulin production in the pancreas or retinal changes with unprecedented precision," explains project leader Stefan Schrittwieser.
In practice, the research team captures images in both the activated (ON) and deactivated (OFF) states of the nanoparticles. Subsequent subtraction of these two images effectively removes the background noise. Initial successful tests have already been conducted on artificial phantom models and in zebrafish animal models. The aim is to clearly visualize insulin-producing pancreatic cells and retinal blood vessels. These advancements form a critical foundation for further diabetes research, allowing for a deeper understanding of disease mechanisms such as diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to blindness in people with diabetes. Furthermore, the new imaging technology allows to do imaging without doing any harm to the animal and allows to reduce the number of used animals for generating relevant data. The outcomes of the SWIMMOT project have the potential to significantly enhance understanding of the molecular basis of diseases and foster the development of targeted therapeutic strategies.
The SWIMMOT project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program under grant agreement No. 899612.
Further information: www.swimmot.researchproject.at
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