Research Projects

Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s Disease (PD) are on the rise globally, including in India’s aging and underserved populations, where early diagnosis remains limited due to lack of accessible, cost-effective, and reliable diagnostic tools. The proposed project aims to address this gap through the development of a next-generation IoT-integrated biosensor platform based on engineered porous glassy carbon (PGC)—a material with exceptional electrochemical, mechanical, and biocompatible properties. This interdisciplinary project spans material science, biomedical engineering, and digital health technologies. It begins with a fundamental investigation into the synthesis and structural tuning of porous glassy carbon, engineered to achieve high surface area, tailored pore architecture, and superior signal transduction properties. These advances will address key limitations of existing biosensor electrodes—namely poor sensitivity, drift, and biocompatibility—by enabling stable, ultra-sensitive detection of PD-relevant biomarkers (e.g., α-synuclein, dopamine, or related microRNAs) in non-invasive biofluids like saliva or sweat. Building on this materials foundation, the project will integrate the PGC-based sensing electrodes into a miniaturized, IoT-enabled biosensor system. This includes on-board signal processing, wireless transmission, and user feedback via mobile or cloud-based health platforms. The platform is designed with inclusivity in mind—targeting rural, geriatric, and economically disadvantaged communities who face persistent barriers to neurological screening and specialist access. Clinical translation is a core objective. Collaborations with neurologists and diagnostic labs will support sensor validation with real patient samples, and ethical clearances will be sought for eventual pilot studies. Through rigorous testing and machine learning-enabled signal interpretation, the device will evolve into a point-of-care, real-time diagnostic aid capable of flagging early neurodegenerative signs long before motor symptoms arise. The project’s novelty lies not only in the engineered PGC electrode architecture, but in the seamless fusion of smart sensing and digital healthcare. It bridges the gap between high-performance lab diagnostics and affordable, portable, inclusive disease detection systems. Furthermore, it creates scope for long-term wearable diagnostics adaptable to other neurodegenerative or chronic diseases. Through this work, we envision not just a technological innovation, but a healthcare equity intervention—one that empowers communities currently underserved by the healthcare system with cutting-edge tools for proactive disease management. This proposal is directly aligned with the objectives of the Inclusivity Research Grant and ANRF’s national missions on affordable healthcare innovation, digital public goods, and translational research.