A new tool for TeleMedicine: Lensfree On-Chip Imaging for High-throughput Cytometry and Point-of-care Diagnostics

Professor Aydogan Ozcan
UCLA Electrical Engineering

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 1:00PM
54-134 Engineering IV Building

Refreshments Served

Abstract: A high-throughput on-chip imaging platform that can rapidly monitor and characterize various cell types within a heterogeneous solution over a depth-of-field of ~5 mm and a field-of-view of >20 cm2 is introduced. This powerful system can image/monitor multiple layers of micro-particles, including cells, within a volume of >10 ml all in parallel without the need for any lens, microscope-objective or any mechanical scanning. In this high-throughput particle imaging scheme, the holographic diffraction pattern (i.e., the shadow) of each micro-particle within the entire sample volume is detected in less than a second using an opto-electronic sensor array. The acquired shadow image is then digitally processed using a custom developed "decision algorithm" to enable both the identification of the particle location in 3D and the characterization of each micro-particle type within the sample volume. Through experimental results, we show that different cell types (e.g., red blood cells, fibroblasts, etc) or other micro-particles all exhibit uniquely different shadow patterns and therefore can be rapidly identified without any ambiguity using the developed decision algorithm, enabling high-throughput characterization of a heterogeneous solution. This lensfree on chip cell imaging platform shows a significant promise especially for medical diagnostic applications relevant to global health problems, where compact and cost-effective diagnostic tools are urgently needed in resource limited settings.

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