Wearable Near Infrared Spectroscopy for Noninvasive Assessment of Cerebral Oxygenation in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease

About 1 out of every 13 African American infants are born with the Sickle Cell Trait. Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) has a profound effect on the brain due to chronic anemia and abnormal perfusion. Indeed, the risk of stroke is 300 times higher than the general population. Assessment of cerebral oxygenation in SCD is important to screen the risk of stroke and monitoring of therapeutic effects. To address this need, the technical solution that we propose is a photonic device using functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) that noninvasively measures oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) and deoxyhemoglobin (deoxy-Hb) levels in the bloodstream. We have built our prototype fNIRS device that consists of an ESP-32 microcontroller with a built-in Digital to Analog and Analog to Digital converter channels (DAC and ADC), three Operational Amplifiers (two AD8655 and one OPA363), two LEDs for emitting light into the skin tissue, and a Photodiode for measuring the remitted light intensity. Oxy-Hb has a higher absorption rate at lower wavelengths, while deoxy-Hb has a higher absorption rate at higher wavelengths. Thus, we use 650 nm and 950nm wavelengths to accurately measure oxy-Hb and deoxy-Hb. Using the Beer-Lambert law, we can determine the changes in oxygenation between the two. We are currently conducting performance tests on a set of optical phantoms mimicking biological tissue optical properties. This bench-top verification demonstrates that our prototype can noninvasively track the changes of tissue oxygenation level and will be ready for further validation on human subjects in the future

A Non-Invasive Diagnostic Tool : Using Near-infrared Spectroscopy to Assess Microvascular Oxygen Metabolism in Muscles of Older Adults

A Non-Invasive Diagnostic Tool : Using Near-infrared Spectroscopy to Assess Microvascular Oxygen Metabolism in Muscles of Older Adults Saba Mabood, Jaden Causey and Paul Lee The natural aging process can cause progressive loss of muscle mass and strength in up to 20% of adults over the age of 65 . This condition is otherwise known as sarcopenia in the field of medicine. Sarcopenia leads to significant loss of mobility in older adults. The energy for skeletal muscle function primarily comes from oxidative metabolism. Adequate oxygen delivery to muscles is crucial to meeting the metabolic demand during day to day activities. Fortunately, we can gain meaningful insights on muscle health and function via regular measurement of the oxygen level. The project goal is to develop a light-based wearable sensor, utilizing NIRS technology, that can non-invasively and continuously assess the muscle health in older adults. An open source wearable NIRS cerebral health tracker - FlexNIRS - was utilized for this purpose and the results of test runs were verified. The eventual goal was to design a wearable sensor that will consist of miniaturized LEDs and photodetectors, analog circuits and microcontroller, and a bluetooth module for wireless communication. The compact form factor of the sensor will allow for attachment on forearm muscle or thigh for data collection during activity

Speckle Contrast Optical Spectroscopy to Assess Muscle Blood Flow for Monitoring Muscle Health in Older Adults

Age-related reduction in muscle function and loss is present in up to 20% of adults over 65 years. In medical terminology, this condition is termed Sarcopenia. This loss of function significantly reduces mobility, and increases the risk of fractures in older individuals. Since the energy for skeletal muscle function mostly comes from oxidative metabolism. Adequate oxygen delivery to muscles is critical to meeting the metabolic demand during daily activities and exercise. Thus, continuous measurement of the oxygen level and blood flow in muscles provides important information on muscle health and function. Speckled Contrast Optical Spectroscopy (SCOS) is an optical based technique that measures speckled contrast with point sources at varying distances and detects photons that undergo several scattering. The SCOS system will consist of a lens, fiber-optic probe, charged-couple device (CCD) camera, and a near-infrared laser. The information provided by this technique is used to measure changes in blood flow. The project goal is to utilize a focusing lens within a SCOS system to assess speckle contrast and evaluate differences in data quality with and without the focusing lens. Through refining the SCOS technique, we aim to gain more accurate muscle blood flow information when assessing muscle health in older adults

Digital Beamforming Algorithm for Wireless Power Transfer

There are billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices connected worldwide with that number growing year after year. IoT devices include smart locks, motion and pressure sensors, digital assistants, and anything else that connects to the internet. All IoT devices require power. A majority of IoT devices use cables to deliver power and truly wireless devices use batteries, which typically also require cables to charge. Charging billions upon billions of batteries can be a challenge. Additionally, many IoT devices are buried underground or are embedded within walls or other inaccessible areas. We are developing a wireless power transfer system to address the problem of physically accessing the device in order to be charged or powered. Specifically, this is an algorithm to control the RF subsystem to enable beam steering with a patch antenna array. This algorithm consists of four stages: start-up, searching, optimization, and charging. The startup stage ensures that the algorithm has the necessary information available and ensures that the array has power. The searching state searches the available area to find the approximate location of the device before moving into the optimization state. The optimization state narrows down the search area to find the more precise location of the device. Once the more precise location has been found, the algorithm starts a clock and continuously checks the battery level. Once the battery is adequately charged, or enough time has elapsed, it returns to the searching state to find the next device

Biofabrication of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle from Ochradenus baccatus

Biofilms are complex aggregation of cells that are embedded in EPS matrix. These microcolonies are highly resistant to drugs and are associated with various diseases. Biofilms have greatly affected the food safety by causing severe losses due to food contamination and spoilage. Therefore, novel antibiofilm agents are needed. This study investigates the antibiofilm and protein binding activity of zinc nanoparticles (ZnNPs) synthesized from leaf extract of Ochradenus baccatus. Standard physical techniques, including UV-visible spectroscopy Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, were used to characterize the synthesized OB-ZnNPs. Synthesized OB-ZnNPs demonstrated significant biofilm inhibition in human and food-borne pathogens (Chromobacterium violaceum, Escherichia coli, P. aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Serratia marcescens, and Listeria monocytogenes) at subinhibitory concentrations. OB-ZnNPs significantly reduced the virulence factors like violacein, prodigiosin, and alginate and impaired swarming migration and EPS production. OB-ZnNPs demonstrated efficient binding with HSA protein and no change in their structure or stability was observed. In addition, in vivo toxicity evaluation confirmed that OB-ZnNPs possessed no serious toxic effect even at higher doses. Moreover, they were found to have excellent antioxidant properties that can be employed in the fields of food safety and medicine. Hence, it is envisaged that the OB-ZnNPs can be used as potential nanomaterials to combat drug resistant bacterial infections and prevent contamination/spoilage of food