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Clinical Photonics

We use light to develop advanced diagnostic tools, wearable sensors, and microscale robots for studying diseases and enabling minimally invasive treatments.

Head of Group

Dr Alex Thompson

Office B411, Bessemer Building,
South Kensington Campus

⇒ X @_Thompson_Alex

What we do

We use photonics to develop new technologies for medicine and to study the pathophysiology of disease. This includes new and improved diagnostic tools as well as microscale robotic devices for therapeutic applications. We use a variety of optical techniques for this purpose such as fluorescence, Raman and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, as well as microscopy and interferometry. We develop devices ranging from wearable sensors and fibre-optic probes for minimally invasive diagnostics through to microscale robots for cellular-scale manipulation and therapy.

Why it is important?

Our research has a number of potential clinical applications including improved monitoring of clinical therapies and interventions (e.g. in inflammatory bowel disease and malnutrition), early diagnosis of infection, and even margin mapping in tumour resection surgery.

How can it benefit patients?

The devices we are developing can potentially provide less invasive and lower cost diagnostics. In turn, this may facilitate patient benefits including earlier diagnosis, earlier identification of relapse (e.g. in therapy response monitoring applications), more widespread deployment and more comfortable patient experiences (e.g. through use of less invasive probes and sensors).

Meet the team

Dr Belal Ahmad
Imperial College Research Fellow

Dr Qian Chen
Clinical Research Fellow

Dr Ahmed Ezzat
Research Postgraduate

Dr Nilanjan Mandal
Research Associate in Optical Sensing for LMICs

Dr Alexander J Thompson
Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sensing

Mr Zeyu Wang
Research Postgraduate

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Maurice:2020:10.1038/s41598-020-73149-2,
author = {Maurice, J and Lett, A and Skinner, C and Lim, A and Richardson, M and Painadath, Thomas A and Summers, P and Vyas, K and Tadbier, A and Vilar, R and Kuimova, M and Miodragovic, S and Vergis, N and Kelly, P and Cordeiro, M and Hoare, J and Darzi, A and Goldin, R and Thursz, M and Thompson, A},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-020-73149-2},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
title = {Transcutaneous fluorescence spectroscopy as a tool for non-invasive monitoring of gut function: first clinical experiences},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73149-2},
volume = {10},
year = {2020}
}

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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Gastro-intestinal function plays a vital role in conditions ranging from inflammatory bowel disease and HIV through to sepsis and malnutrition. However, the techniques that are currently used to assess gut function are either highly invasive or unreliable. Here we present an alternative, non-invasive sensing modality for assessment of gut function based on fluorescence spectroscopy. In this approach, patients receive an oral dose of a fluorescent contrast agent and a fibre-optic probe is used to make fluorescence measurements through the skin. This provides a readout of the degree to which fluorescent dyes have permeated from the gut into the blood stream. We present preliminary results from our first measurements in human volunteers demonstrating the potential of the technique for non-invasive monitoring of multiple aspects of gastro-intestinal health.
AU  - Maurice,J
AU  - Lett,A
AU  - Skinner,C
AU  - Lim,A
AU  - Richardson,M
AU  - Painadath,Thomas A
AU  - Summers,P
AU  - Vyas,K
AU  - Tadbier,A
AU  - Vilar,R
AU  - Kuimova,M
AU  - Miodragovic,S
AU  - Vergis,N
AU  - Kelly,P
AU  - Cordeiro,M
AU  - Hoare,J
AU  - Darzi,A
AU  - Goldin,R
AU  - Thursz,M
AU  - Thompson,A
DO  - 10.1038/s41598-020-73149-2
PY  - 2020///
SN  - 2045-2322
TI  - Transcutaneous fluorescence spectroscopy as a tool for non-invasive monitoring of gut function: first clinical experiences
T2  - Scientific Reports
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73149-2
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/83422
VL  - 10
ER  -