Objective
The project seeks to demonstrate a new non-invasive diagnostic technique that can give unique information regarding the structure and chemical nature of a wide range of molecular species in body tissue and fluid. Transcutaneous optical spectroscopy in the visible and near- infrared region of the spectrum is used to measure configurational and structural isomers of states of body pigments such as haemoglobin, bilirubin, melanin and the secondary influence of binding by proteins such as albumen and also fatty acids. A dedicated software expert system will be used to interpret the spectroscopic results from the hand held monitor unit. Inn use, the monitor is simply pushed against the skin of human subjects in the demonstration trial. Spectroscopic data is then interrogated by the expert system and the concentration profiles, protein binding and conformational information is displayed for the user. The unique value of this technology is that the biochemist, structural biologist, or clinician has no need to be an expert spectroscopist. Instead, the non-invasive chemical structure tool can be used in a wide range of disciplines to help to solve many related biological and medical research problems.
Fields of science
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftware
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculeslipids
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligenceexpert systems
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsspectroscopy
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
EAW - Exploratory awardsCoordinator
OX2 0JX Oxford
United Kingdom