Head-mount Portable Multimodal Optical BrainImaging Device for Un-Anesthetized Rats

The proposed project is aimed at developing a portable optical device to image blood flow
velocity and oxygenation in a rat brain. The motivation behind this project is the development of
minimally invasive method for long-term neurological studies in un-anesthetized animals, which
should provide a better understanding of progression and treatment efficacy of various
neurological disorders. The novelty of this proposal is the development of a miniature highresolution
optical imaging system to enable monitoring brain activity that is not compromised by
the effect of anesthesia or physical fixation.
The proposed timeframe for the project is 24 months, and will span the following areas: initial
prototype design and characterization, development of a chronic skull window, biological test on
anesthetized rats and comparison against state-of-the-art table-top setup, and biological test on
un-anesthetized freely moving animals.
Our clinical partners in Toronto Western Hospital will gain the means and methods for
conducting long-term neurological brain imaging studies in un-anesthetized animals, while our…TOBECONT’D.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ofer Levi

Student:

Partner:

University of Toronto;Teledyne DALSA Inc (Waterloo, ON);QImaging

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Toronto

Program: