Multiplexed 'Touch and Tell' Optical Molecular Sensing and Imaging

这个项目完全是关于多学科合作的--并在临床环境中利用即将出现的许多新的前景和机会。因此，这项研究计划汇集了一群世界级的科学家(物理学家、化学家、工程师和计算机专家)和临床医生，以设计、制造和测试一个尖端的床边技术平台，该平台将帮助重症监护病房(ICU)的医生做出快速而准确的诊断，为治疗提供信息，并确保患者快速获得正确的治疗。虽然我们正在开发我们的技术平台，重点是ICU，但它也将适用于广泛的其他医疗情况。ICU患者的死亡率和致残率很高，并对医疗服务造成不成比例的经济负担。潜在的致命肺部并发症是呼吸机ICU患者的常见问题，在ICU护理这些患者的医生面临许多挑战，通常需要在没有适当告知这些决定所需的信息的情况下做出仓促决定。该方案开发的技术平台将为医生提供有关ICU患者的状态以及他们的肺部是否有感染、炎症或疤痕的重要信息。目前还没有准确做到这一点的方法。这些信息将帮助他们做出关于治疗的决定。一种快速诊断ICU肺部并发症的新方法将使医生能够将正确的药物对准适当的患者，并信心十足地撤药，从而改善患者的预后和显著的成本效益-从而彻底改变ICU的护理。使用先进的光纤技术和微电子技术以及新的传感器阵列，我们突破性的解决方案是创造一种新型的基于光纤的探头，可以很容易地进入ICU患者的肺和血管的气体交换区。该探头将装有各种特殊的光纤，其中一些光纤可以让临床医生观察肺部内部，而另一些光纤将被改装成传感器，可以测量血液和肺中的氧气浓度和酸度等重要参数。此外，这种纤维还将提供微量(微量)的“智能试剂”，这些试剂可以荧光检测特定的细菌和其他可能损害肺部的物质。当整合在一起时，这些信号将提供关于肺损伤的程度或类型以及怀疑感染时潜在的致病‘细菌’的高度特异性信息。由于产生了大量的信息，为了便于医生解释，计算专家将这些信号转换为临床医生易于理解的疾病读数。创建这一技术平台所需的不同元素的工作将由巴斯大学、赫里奥特·瓦特大学和爱丁堡大学的化学家、物理学家、工程师、计算机科学家和生物学家组成的小组承担。至关重要的是，该计划将把这些科学学科聚集在一个“枢纽”中，在那里它们将并肩工作，促进目标的整合，并确保进步迅速转化为临床环境。这个跨学科的中心还将为新的博士生提供一个肥沃的培训基地，他们将学习跨学科的技能，这些技能将使他们能够应对挑战，将当前的物理科学“革命”转化为英国医疗保健的利益。总而言之，该项目将产生：1)受过物理和生物科学培训的新科学家群体，他们充分了解临床转化和商业化途径，并有能力应对将基础科学的进步转化为医疗福利的挑战；2)一个尖端的床边技术平台，将帮助ICU的医生做出快速而准确的诊断。

This project is all about multi-disciplinary collaboration - and capitalisation in a clinical setting of the many new vistas and opportunities that will arise. As such this research programme brings together a group of world class scientists (physicists, chemists, engineers and computer experts) and clinicians to design, make and test a cutting-edge bedside technology platform which will help doctors in the intensive care unit (ICU) make rapid and accurate diagnoses that would inform therapy and ensure patients get the right treatment, quickly. While we are developing our technology platform with a focus on ICU, it will also be applicable to a wide range of other healthcare situations.ICU patients suffer high death and disability rates and are responsible for a disproportionate financial burden on the health service. Potentially fatal lung complications are a common problem in ventilated ICU patients and doctors caring for these patients in the ICU face many challenges, often needing to make snap decisions without the information necessary to properly inform those decisions. The technology platform developed in this programme will provide doctors with important information on the state of ICU patients and whether they have infections, inflammation or scarring in their lungs. Currently there are no methods to do this accurately. This information will aid them in making decisions about treatment. A new approach to rapidly diagnose lung complications in ICU would enable doctors to target the correct drugs to the appropriate patients and to withdraw drugs with confidence, with resultant improvement in patient outcomes and major cost efficiencies - thus revolutionising ICU care.Using advanced fibre optic technology and micro-electronics and new sensor arrays our ground-breaking solution is to create a novel fibre-based probe that can readily be passed into the gas exchanging areas of the lung and blood vessels of ICU patients. The probe will house a variety of special optical fibres, some of which allow clinicians to "view" inside the lung while others will be modified with sensors that can measure important parameters such as oxygen concentration and acidity in both blood and lung. In addition the fibre will deliver tiny amounts (microdoses) of 'smart reagents' that fluorescently detect specific bacteria and other agents that can damage the lung. When integrated together these signals will provide highly specific information about the degree or type of lung damage and the potential causative 'bug' if an infection is suspected. Because of the large amount of information generated and in order to make it easily interpreted by doctors, computing experts will convert these signals into easy-to-understand disease readouts for our clinicians. Work on the different elements needed to create this technology platform will be undertaken by groups of chemists, physicists, engineers, computer scientists and biologists working at Bath, Heriot Watt and Edinburgh universities. Crucially, this programme will bring these scientific disciplines together in a "hub" where they will work side-by-side, promoting integration of purpose and to ensure that advances are rapidly translated into the clinical setting. This interdisciplinary hub will also provide a fertile training base for new PhD students who will learn the cross-disciplinary skills that will equip them to meet the challenges of translating the current 'revolution' in physical sciences into benefit for UK healthcare. In summary this project will generate; 1) a new cohort of scientists trained in physical and biological science that have a full appreciation of clinical translational and commercialisation pathways and who are equipped to meet the challenges of converting advances in basic science into healthcare benefit and; 2) a cutting-edge bedside technology platform which will help doctors in the ICU make rapid and accurate diagnoses.