Rapid inter-procedural 3D scanning of fine-needle aspiration cytology slides with a parallelized microscope - significance: fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsies are a critical first step in the…

The National Cancer Institute awarded Ramona Optics Inc. $306,872 on September 9, 2025, under the Cancer Treatment Research program (CFDA 93.395) to develop a multi-camera array scanner (MCAS) that rapidly digitizes and automatically analyzes fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology smears in three dimensions.

The MCAS system will provide real-time imaging to enable rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) of FNA biopsy specimens during procedures such as bronchoscopies. Current limitations in ROSE availability—particularly outside large hospital settings—force proceduralists to proceed without immediate confirmation of adequate specimen material, resulting in additional patient visits, repeat procedures, and increased procedural risk. The MCAS addresses this gap by automating three-dimensional analysis of thick cytology smears to support immediate specimen assessment and triage decisions during the procedure.

Ramona Optics will perform the work in Durham, North Carolina, in partnership with Duke Medical Center. The period of performance runs from September 9, 2025, through May 31, 2027. This is a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project grant, a category within the Cancer Treatment Research program designed to evaluate the feasibility and commercial potential of innovative approaches in cancer diagnosis and treatment technologies.

Rapid inter-procedural 3D scanning of fine-needle aspiration cytology slides with a parallelized microscope - significance: fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsies are a critical first step in the cancer diagnosis pipeline, wherein specimen material is extracted from a suspected pathological lesion and smeared onto a microscope slide. Cytopathologists then examine three-dimensional groups of cells across the entire slide for diagnostic purposes. Ideally, a cytopathologist is available in-person to perform "rapid on-site evaluation" (rose) during such FNA biopsy procedures, like bronchoscopies, which is known to increase positive predictive value and decreases procedure time for cancer diagnosis. Unfortunately, relatively few cytotechnologists and pathologists are available to perform rose, most notably outside of large hospital settings. Without rose, proceduralists generally do not know if they have obtained adequate specimen material for diagnostic review, or how to triage such samples, which leads to additional patient visits, additional procedures, and increased risk of side effect and harm. Proposal: in this project, ramona optics and the duke medical center aim to develop a new imaging system, termed a multi-camera array scanner (mcas), that rapidly digitizes and automatically analyzes thick FNA cytology smears in 3D. The mcas will provide real-time (