In this section
We use light to develop advanced diagnostic tools, wearable sensors, and microscale robots for studying diseases and enabling minimally invasive treatments.
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.
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.
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).
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
@inproceedings{S√°nchez:2022:10.31256/hsmr2022.32,
author = {S√°nchez, EM and Avery, J and Darzi, A and Thompson, AJ},
doi = {10.31256/hsmr2022.32},
pages = {65--66},
publisher = {The Hamlyn Centre, Imperial College London London, UK},
title = {Development of a wearable fluorescence sensor for non-invasive monitoring of gut permeability},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.31256/hsmr2022.32},
year = {2022}
}
TY - CPAPER
AB - <jats:p>Inflammatory bowel disease, coeliac disease, and malnutrition have all been linked to changes in intestinal function, particularly gut permeability [1]. Endoscopic biopsies and histopathology, together with chemical tests such as Lactulose:Mannitol assays, are the techniques currently used to assess permeability in the clinic. However, those methods are either invasive, unable to offer comprehensive diagnoses, or challenging to perform in infants [2]. Further, the mechanisms and in interactions behind function the the gut’s aforementioned (and additional) disorders are currently not well understood. As a result, novel diagnostic technologies that provide non-invasive and accurate measurements of intestinal permeability (and other aspects of gut function) could have major therapeutic implications [3]. Recent studies in both humans and animals have shown the potential of transcutaneous fluorescence spectroscopy to provide information relevant to gastrointestinal (GI) function – including gut permeability – in a non-invasive manner (e.g. [4-7]). This method entails oral administration of a fluorescent contrast agent combined with the use of a wearable probe to non-invasively measure the permeation of the contrast agent from the gut into the blood stream, thereby facilitating measurements of gut leakiness/permeability and other clinically relevant GI functions [4-7]. However, the devices that have been used for this purpose are laser-based, large and expensive, which make them unsuitable for large scale clinical deployment [4-7].To address the above limitations, here we report preliminary results from a compact fluorescence spectroscopy sensor for transcutaneous monitoring of gut function. The primary functionality of the device is to detect fluorescence signals at the skin
AU - S√°nchez,EM
AU - Avery,J
AU - Darzi,A
AU - Thompson,AJ
DO - 10.31256/hsmr2022.32
EP - 66
PB - The Hamlyn Centre, Imperial College London London, UK
PY - 2022///
SP - 65
TI - Development of a wearable fluorescence sensor for non-invasive monitoring of gut permeability
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.31256/hsmr2022.32
ER -
The Hamlyn Centre
Bessemer Building
South Kensington Campus
Imperial College
London, SW7 2AZ
Map location
