Research Projects

Mosquitoes are the primary vectors for endemic diseases like malaria and dengue, leading to increased morbidity and mortality worldwide. India is one of the countries with high prevalence of these diseases, with over 26% of infection cases reported in the state of Odisha. Current techniques for screening malaria and dengue require expensive, complex methods that primary healthcare providers in remote areas cannot execute. Flow-Cytometer (FCM) is a powerful analytical method used for counting, examining, and sorting cells suspended within fluid streams. The proposal aims to develop an indigenous single-cell high throughput microfluidic Absorption FCM for fast screening of endemic diseases and detecting anemia at point-of-care (POC). This device will be specific enough to distinguish between malaria, dengue, and viral fever, as well as detect anemic subjects. The design involves a microfluidic platform for blood cell sorting, simple optics for absorption studies, tagging of dengue antibodies in microchannels for dengue detection, low-noise electronic design, and signal processing for extracting information from detectors. The development of indigenous devices in India and the integration of imaging modalities within FCM can help address the limitations of conventional systems and pave the way for the next generation of flow cytometry technology. The development of GUI-based algorithms for viral and parasitic disease detection and quantitative information on infected cells from an overall assesses sample could be helpful towards the eradication of malaria, dengue, and critical diseases like anemia.