CRIMSON aims to provide a next-generation bio-photonics imaging device based on vibrational spectroscopy, with the potential to revolutionise the study of the cellular origin of diseases allowing for novel approaches towards personalised therapy. We will employ label-free broadband coherent Raman scattering (CRS) extended to the fingerprint region, in combination with artificial-intelligence spectroscopic data analysis, for fast cell/tissue classification with unprecedented biochemical sensitivity. We will develop a hyperspectral CRS microscope for 3D quantitative imaging of sub-cellular compartments in living cells and organoids. High acquisition speed will enable the observation of intra- and inter-cellular dynamic changes by time-lapse imaging. We will simulate future in-vivo studies and demonstrate the capability to image inside the body, realizing an innovative CRS endoscope and applying it to ex-vivo thick tissue slides. CRIMSON relies on the development of new compact ultrafast lasers, innovative broadband CRS detection schemes and advanced spectral analysis routines. To validate the CRS platform, we will investigate three open biological questions related to cancer, as paradigmatic examples of the complexity and heterogeneity of cellular diseases. The results will have profound societal impacts, improving patients’ quality of life and reducing public healthcare costs. CRIMSON brings together a multidisciplinary team of world-leading academic organizations, biomedical end users and innovative SMEs, with vertical integration of all required skills. CRIMSON will bridge the gap between research and product development, increasing the TRL and making CRS a user-friendly, robust and cost-effective mainstream tool for a vast biological research community. Commercial exploitation by the participating SMEs, including a biomedical equipment manufacturer, will create a competitive advantage in the European biophotonics-related market for microscopes and R&D tools.

Sustainable agriculture strategies have become central to European and global orientations as the demand of food increases with the rising world population. Current technologies qualitatively drive the application of Nitrogen (N)-fertilizers to stressed field areas but cannot precisely modulate the needed amount, resulting in dangerous N dispersion, ecological and economic losses. RE-IMAGINE-CROPS envisions applying basic plant science into crop management by quantitative “in-field” measurements of biophysical processes occurring at tissue and cellular level. The consortium will implement the first real-time in-field portable multimodal multiscale Positron Emission Tomography (PET)-Multiphoton Endoscope (ME) technology. PET measures the metabolic processes in the crops at the scale of hundreds of micrometers, while guiding the ME system to visualize functional mechanisms at a cellular level. The aim is to tailor the amount of fertilizer to be used by enabling measurement of functional processes reflecting the local and systemic crop signal pathways triggered by N-fertilizer shortly after application. RE-IMAGINE-CROPS involves real-time PET reconstruction, hydrodynamic modelling, optical fiber transmission optics, and features identification in multiple scales. It enables a new multimodal, mobile technology for the first time, with unprecedented spatial resolution (0.6 mm;1um) and real-time functionality at a rate of (2;10) Hz. These are enabled by a multimodal PET-ME tracer based on the Lifeact-Venus protein labeled with 89Zr. RE-IMAGINE-CROPS brings together eight institutions with leading scientists and cross-disciplinary expertise. Among them, EURO-BIOIMAGING ERIC and BFEDU, a large agrifood enterprise, will boost the impact and dissemination of this novel technology in to the European scientific and industrial landscape. On this basis, RE-IMAGINE-CROPS has the potential to support and shape the essential priorities in the EU’s future sustainable crop management.