Daniel Lookadoo

Fluorescent Imaging Prototype for Paper-based Diagnostics

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Jana Care is a medical diagnostics company pushing to improve health outcomes for people living with chronic diseases around the world. Our unique approach leverages an affordable, connected ecosystem that can perform key blood tests and provide actionable lifestyle feedback to empower patients and healthcare providers. We develop new diagnostic tests, that are not readily available at the cost and performance required for global markets, and integrate them with the Aina device. The device works on a photo-reflective principle and can read colorimetric test strips at multiple wavelengths. The goal of this project will be to develop a next generation device prototype that enables fluorescent imaging. Researchers working on this project will learn about diagnostic applications for global health and some of the interdisciplinary challenges associated with developing affordable point-of-care technology.

LABORATORY MENTOR

Daniel Lookadoo

RESEARCH GOALS

-Design, prototype and characterize the optical system
-Optimize the design for analysis of biomarkers coupled to lanthanide chelate encapsulated nanoparticles
-Develop methods for analyzing paper diagnostic test strips using the prototype

LEARNING GOALS

-Learn about spectroscopy and the design of optical devices
-Learn about the design and chemistry of paper diagnostic test strips
-Learn about spectral/image analysis and tools for data analysis