Portable Optical Sensor for Rapid, Non-Invasive, and On-Site Diagnosis of Tuberculosis (TB)

Principal Investigator’s Organization (PIO):

LUMS, Lahore

Principal Investigator (PI):

Dr. Imran Cheema

Summary

The Bio-Agri-Photonics (BAP) Lab at LUMS, is developing a portable optical sensor to help health care sectors for rapid, non-invasive, and on-site diagnosis of Tuberculosis (TB).

Brainchild of Dr. Muhammad Imran Cheema, a portable optical sensor is being developed for on-site diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB); a disease which is known to every second household in Pakistan.
Using laser Raman spectroscopy, a simple breath test will analyze a patient for rapid, on-site diagnosis. The inner walls of the collection chamber they breathe into are chemically treated to capture the organic TB biomarkers present in the patient breath. A laser beam is then passed through the chamber, and the transmitted light is detected as a function of the raman shifts, determining the frequency.
The diagnosis of TB is then performed based on the chemically-specific spectroscopic signatures of the TB biomarkers present in the breath. This process will provide a novel TB sensor which is non-invasive, accurate, sensitive, and label free. By developing an easy to use non-invasive optical sensor, immediate TB diagnosis can be provided without the aid of specialized laboratory personnel. This is also easily portable to remote areas with lack of healthcare infrastructure.

Theme                 AI / Big data

Type                    Health-Tech / Academia

Website          https://or.lums.edu.pk