The ARPA-H Precision Surgical Interventions (PSI) program aims to develop methods and techniques to improve cancer detection and increase the visibility of critical anatomical structures during tumor removal surgery.

Funding for awardees varies in amount and is contingent upon the recipient meeting aggressive milestones specific to their project.

The PSI performers are:

• Tulane University will build an imaging system that uses a large aperture camera and structured illumination microscopy, an imaging technique that uses patterned light to achieve high resolution in three dimensions. It takes advantage of light wave interference patterns to image entire excised tumors. The team will also develop an AI algorithm to automatically identify cancerous cells for fast data classification.
• Rice University will build a novel microscope that images tumor slices with ultraviolet epifluorescence. They will use advanced methods to create fluorescent stains that label cells and cellular components and will develop automated AI algorithms to transform their images into ones that look similar to conventional pathology. They will also develop an automated pathology algorithm to classify the imaged cells. 
• University of Washington will develop a microscopy system to allow surgeons to image the entire surface of the tumor by placing it on a lightsheet scanner. The team is also developing algorithms to pseudo-stain the resulting images, so that the sample doesn’t need to be dyed in the operating room; instead, AI methods will take a greyscale image and render it similar to conventional pathology images in order to better classify it.