Laser-based engineering (Lab-flo)

Project overview

In 2013 we started work on an 18-month EPSRC feasibility grant entitled 'Laser-printable point-of-care sensors for low-cost medical diagnosis and disease monitoring', which explored laser-based printing of biological materials for applications in the healthcare sector. Our results have attracted the attention of several major international healthcare manufacturers who see the potential of laser-patterning of porous materials like paper for their future product range and who want to work with us to further develop this technology. We are submitting this follow-on proposal to (1) develop a laboratory-standard process for laser-based paper-patterning for fluidic devices, (2) use our technology in trials for a point-of-care diagnostics demonstrator sensor that allows detection of specific diseases such as tuberculosis, as well as dramatically reducing detection limits, (3) extend the technique to incorporate methodologies for fluid delay, multiplexing, and patterning of 3-D devices, and (4) explore applications beyond planar devices in paper, including 'Light-Up Paper' and functionalised fabrics for 'Smart Plasters'.

Staff

Other researchers

Dr Collin Sones

Principal Research Fellow

Connect with Collin

Email: cls@orc.soton.ac.uk

Professor Paul Elkington

Director of Inst. for Medical Innovation

Research interests

tuberculosis
immunopathology
diagnosis

Connect with Paul

Email: P.Elkington@soton.ac.uk

Professor Tony Williams

Professor of Translational Medicine

Connect with Tony

Email: A.P.Williams@soton.ac.uk

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Laser-Direct-Write (LDW) Technologies for Biomedical Applications

We explore the use of lasers to create sensors that can be used by a patient’s bedside to test for an underlying disease or a health condition.

Research outputs

A rapid diagnostic test for human Visceral Leishmaniasis using novel Leishmania antigens in a laser direct-write lateral flow device

Maria Humbert, Lourena Emanuele Costa, Ioannis Katis, Fernanda Fonseca Ramos, Amanda Sanchez Machado, Collin Sones, Eduardo Antonio Ferraz Coelho & Myron Christodoulides, 2019, Emerging Microbes and Infections, 8(1), 1178-1185

DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2019.1635430

Type: article

Rapid multiplexed detection on lateral-flow devices using a laser direct-write technique

Peijun He, Ioannis Katis, Robert Eason & Collin L Sones, 2018, Biosensors

DOI: 10.3390/bios8040097

Type: article

Improved sensitivity and limit-of-detection of lateral flow devices using spatial constrictions of the flow-path

Ioannis Katis, Peijun He, Robert Eason & Collin Sones, 2018, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 113, 95-100

DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2018.05.001

Type: article

Laser direct-write for fabrication of three-dimensional paper-based devices

Peijun He, Ioannis Katis, Robert Eason & Collin Sones, 2016, Lab on a Chip, 16, 3296-3303