STTR Phase I: Robust, portable holographic imaging for label-free analysis of blood samples in the field

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目旨在开发一种新型的全息显微镜系统，用于在护理点检查细胞学样本，如血涂片。目前的血细胞分析技术需要由专业技术人员进行人工检查，导致昂贵且耗时的测试。该项目建议开发一种紧凑，便携，廉价，易于使用的宽视场数字全息显微镜，用于血液和细胞样品的自动筛选。在这种独特的显微镜设计中，通过使用干涉样品室实现光学保真度和对准，该干涉样品室使用简单的激光照明产生细胞样品的全息图像。该项目的目标是建立一个具有低成本腔室的原型显微镜，能够在5分钟内对100万个细胞成像，该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是作为检测疟疾等疾病的新工具。即使有了最新的进展，疟疾仍然是一个重大的健康问题，每年有3亿至5亿例病例和1至3百万例死亡，其中90%发生在撒哈拉以南非洲的贫困地区，大多数病例发生在幼儿中。所提出的全息显微镜可以提供比手动检查血涂片更少的费用的快速诊断，同时提高基于免疫抗原的测试的准确性。商业机会在美国和国外都很重要。疟疾检测是第一个目标;随着技术的发展，还有更多的机会检测其他血液疾病。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project seeks to develop a novel holographic microscope system for examining cytological samples, such as blood smears, at the point of care. Current blood cell analysis techniques require manual examination by expert technicians, resulting in a costly and time-consuming test. The project proposes to develop a compact, portable, inexpensive, and easy-to-use wide field digital holographic microscope for automated screening of blood and cell samples. In this unique microscope design, optical fidelity and alignment are achieved through the use of an interferometric sample chamber, which produces holographic images of cell samples with simple laser illumination. The objectives of this project are to build a prototype microscope with low-cost chambers capable of imaging 1 million cells in 5 minutes.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is as new tool for detection of diseases such as malaria. Even with recent advances, malaria is a significant health concern with 300-500 million cases each year and 1-3 million deaths, 90% of which occur in impoverished regions in sub-Saharan Africa with the majority of the cases occurring in young children. The proposed holographic microscope can provide rapid diagnosis for far less expense than manual examination of blood smears, while improving on the accuracy of comparably priced antigen based tests. The commercial opportunity is significant both in the U.S. and abroad. Malaria detection is the first target; there are additional opportunities for detection of other blood based diseases as the technology develops.