Korea University: Using a smartphone, a KU research team has succeeded in developing cell and particle size measurement technology based on shadow imaging technology.
The research was led by Professor Sung-Kyu Seo and Ph.D. student Mohendra Roy (first author) in the Department of Electronics and Information Engineering, College of Science and Technology, on the KU Sejong Campus.
Support was provided by the New Researcher Support Plan (follow-up support), BK21+ (Health Safety Examination ICT Convergence Technology Research Team), and Focus Research Center Support Plan (Optoelectronic Materials Research Center) promoted by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Convergence/Integration Technology Development Plan (technology transfer task) promoted by the Small and Medium Business Administration.
The research was published on October 18 in the online edition of the international journal Biosensors & Bioelectronics, a highly influential journal (according to JCR 2013) in terms of impact factor (I.F. 6.451) among 27 SCI journals in the field of electrochemistry.
(Title: Low-cost telemedicine device performing cell and particle size measurement based on lens-free shadow imaging technology)
Analysis of the size, form and activity of micrometer-sized cells and particles has been widely undertaken in the fields of medicine, biotechnology, drug toxicology, environmental microorganisms and materials engineering.
However, it has required large and expensive automated equipment, such as flow-cytometry, coulter counter and particle analyzer, and optical instruments such as microscopes had to be checked manually one-by-one by well-trained inspectors.
The research team, analyzing the shadow (or diffraction) patterns of various cells and particles and redefining the shadow parameters, found that a particular shadow parameter (Peak-to-Peak Distance: PPD) is linearly proportional to the size of cells. In addition, application technology that enables analysis of cells and particles through this shadow parameter extraction on Android-based smartphones (Galaxy S3, Samsung) was also developed.
The research team applied this technology to various cells, such as red blood cells, liver cancer cells (HepG2), breast cancer cells (MCF-7), and uterine cancer cells (HeLa), and polystyrene microbeads and confirmed that its coincidence of measurement was higher than that of the existing technology (0.996, 5um resolution). In addition, it was proved that this technology, given its compact platform smaller than 9.3 x 9.0 x 9.0cm3, could be implemented at a lower cost (under $100) compared to microscope-based technology costing thousands of dollars.
Regarding the basic technology of this research, shadow imaging technology, Professor Seo entered into a KRW 282-million technology transfer contract with a domestic company in 2013 and Korean patent registration and international patent applications (U.S. and China) were completed this year. Commercialization of the technology and the development of application technology for the next generation are currently being conducted.
Professor Seo said, “My graduate students are the main authors of two articles published in this journal in 2012 followed by this article. I am very proud that we were able to demonstrate the potential of the KU Sejong Campus as a research university.”
[ Description of Terms ]
1. Shadow Imaging Technology
It is a technology that irradiates micrometer-sized fine cells and particles with light at a specific wavelength, and analyzes the shadow pattern (or diffraction) generated to measure the type, number, activity and size of cells and particles. This technology enables low-cost, small-scale and high throughput analysis of cells and particles.
2. Telemedicine
It is a compound word consisting of telecommunication (remote communication) and medicine (medical science), and refers to remote medical technology. It can be used in this research and in the field of in-vitro diagnosis.