Research

Image of POCKET colorimeter for use with microfluidic paper-based analytical devices.

Point-of-Care Diagnostics

We have developed a portable and cost-effective colorimeter for measuring light transmittance in microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μ-PADs). This handheld, battery-operated device can be used with μ-PADs to perform rapid diagnostic measurements over clinically relevant ranges in poorly resourced environments, such as emergency response situations and developing nations.

Image of the droplet-generating microfluidic device used to encode the information on the mask as a sequence of pulses of light.

Optofluidics

Optofluidics is an emerging field of research at the convergence of optics and microfluidics. The term may be broadly applied to systems that use light to manipulate fluids, or fluids to manipulate light. We have previously developed a microfluidic device that uses droplets as optical shutters to modulate pulses of light.

Showing differences in the direction of motion of two halves of a beating cardiomyocyte (red = up, blue = down) resolved using SDPM.

Spectral Domain Phase Microscopy

Spectral Domain Phase Microscopy (SDPM) is a phase-resolved derivative of optical coherence tomography (OCT) that exploits the high phase stability of common-path interferometers and the depth selectivity of OCT to accurately track changes in optical path length. SDPM and related techniques have been used to investigate various cellular phenomena, including cytoskeletal rheology and cardiomyocyte contractility.