10061490Advanced characterisation of imaging probe productsClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKLightOx are a drug development company based in Newcastle upon Tyne that has made its light-activated products, known as LightOx Probes, available to other researchers to enable them to understand biological processes that occur in a cell. LightOx has shown that their Probe molecules are capable of emitting fluorescence when they are activated by light, allowing researchers to see where a Probe is situated inside a cell. However, while fluorescence measurements can show researchers where these molecules are localised, they cannot accurately tell us how much is there. To solve this problem, researchers around the world are beginning to demonstrate a new imaging technique, combined fluorescence and Raman imaging, that incorporates Raman (a form of light scattering) measurements along with light from fluorescence to answer both of these "Where?" and "How much?" questions. One disadvantage to this technique is that it requires specially-designed probes that are capable of both fluorescence and Raman measurements; there is no on-market probe that satisfies these conditions, significantly slowing the advancement of this fascinating technique that promises to help researchers answer complex biological questions. LightOx believe that many of their LightOx Probes exhibit unique structures that are capable of this new imaging technique, but they are a small company (10 employees) and lack the expertise and equipment required to demonstrate their probes' capabilities in these experiments. To solve this, LightOx have partnered with two of the world's leading technology facilities, the Central Laser Facility (CLF) and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), on this A4I project to characterise the Raman properties of their LightOx probes and use these measurements to demonstrate utility in this new imaging technique. The CLF and NPL are equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation to measure these properties, and these experiments will enable customers to use LightOx Probes to utilise combined fluorescence and Raman imaging and also allow LightOx to learn more about their novel technology. LightOx already sell LightOx Probes through a market-leading worldwide distributor and have noted that there are no probes currently marketed for combined fluorescence and Raman imaging. Hence, LightOx sees an opportunity to fill an emerging and potentially lucrative market gap, and we have partnered with the CLF and NPL to undertake this ambitious project that aims to establish a new application for LightOx products. These Probes have potential to enable researchers across the world to make new discoveries in fields such as cancer, cell biology and therapeutics.