NIH recognizes engineering professor's innovative research with m...(ures that can potentially be interfaced ...),Health

"This research has the potential for global impact, and we are very excited that the NIH has recognized both Professor Ozcan and his work," said Paul S. Weiss, director of the CNSI.

"Aydogan's work has great potential in transforming mobile phones into portable yet powerful medical devices," said Vijay K. Dhir, dean of UCLA Engineering. "The significant attention he's received for his research is well deserved and is a testament to the quality of young faculty we have here at the school."

In Ozcan's lab, a prototype cell phone diagnostic unit has been constructed that utilizes LUCAS, an innovative lens-free, high-throughput imaging platform. LUCAS (Lensless Ultra-wide-field Cell Monitoring Array platform based on Shadow imaging) first uses a light source to illuminate a sample of blood, saliva or other fluid. Then, with a sensor array, a "shadow image" essentially a diffraction pattern is obtained of the microparticles in the sample, such as red blood cells.

Because red blood cells and other microparticles have a distinct diffraction pattern, they can be identified and counted virtually instantaneously by LUCAS using a custom-developed "decision algorithm" that compares the captured shadow images to a library of images. Data collected by LUCAS can then be sent to a hospital for analysis and diagnosis using the cell phone, or transferred by USB to a computer for transmission to a hospital.

The compact, lightweight and portable nature of LUCAS makes the potential impact of Ozcan's mobile lab very exciting. Currently, microscopes and advanced medical lab equipment, like flow cytometers, represent the standard for examining, identifying and counting cells. But they are bulky, cost tens of thousands of dollars and require trained technicians to operate.

"With LUCAS, we were able to simplify the imaging device. And because LUCAS does
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