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{Monfort:2023:10.1117/12.2649030,
author = {Monfort, Sánchez E and Avery, J and Gan, J and Qian, J and Mwiinga, M and Banda, R and Hoare, J and Ashranfian, H and Darzi, A and Kelly, P and Thompson, AJ},
doi = {10.1117/12.2649030},
pages = {1--7},
publisher = {SPIE},
title = {A compact fluorescence sensor for low-cost non-invasive monitoring of gut permeability in undernutrition},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.2649030},
year = {2023}
}
TY - CPAPER
AB - Undernutrition is associated with approximately 45% of deaths among children under the age of 5. Furthermore, in 2020, around 149 million children suffered impaired physical/cognitive development due to lack of adequate nutrition. Environmental enteropathy (EE) is associated with undernutrition and is characterized by a multifaceted breakdown in gut function, including an increase in intestinal permeability that can lead to inflammatory responses. However, the role and mechanisms associated with EE (particularly gut permeability) are not well understood. This is partly because current techniques to assess changes in gut permeability, such as endoscopic biopsies, histopathology and chemical tests such as Lactulose:Mannitol assays, are either highly invasive, unreliable or difficult to perform on specific groups of patients (such as infants and patients with urine retention problems). Therefore, low-cost, non-invasive and reliable diagnostic tools are urgently needed for better evaluation of intestinal permeability. Here, we present a compact transcutaneous fluorescence spectroscopy sensor for non-invasive evaluation of gut permeability and report the first in vivo data collected from volunteers in an undernutrition trial. Using this technique and device, fluorescence signals are detected transcutaneously after oral ingestion of a fluorescent solution. Preliminary results demonstrate the potential use of the presented sensor for clinical assessment of gut permeability in low-income settings.
AU - Monfort,Sánchez E
AU - Avery,J
AU - Gan,J
AU - Qian,J
AU - Mwiinga,M
AU - Banda,R
AU - Hoare,J
AU - Ashranfian,H
AU - Darzi,A
AU - Kelly,P
AU - Thompson,AJ
DO - 10.1117/12.2649030
EP - 7
PB - SPIE
PY - 2023///
SN - 1605-7422
SP - 1
TI - A compact fluorescence sensor for low-cost non-invasive monitoring of gut permeability in undernutrition
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.2649030
UR - https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie/12369/2649030/A-compact-fluorescence-sensor-for-low-cost-non-invasive-monitoring/10.1117/12.2649030.full
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/104613
ER -
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