PLEASE CLICK HERE TO ACCESS SENIOR DESIGN E-PORTFOLIO

*UPDATE 8/04/11: EPortfolio has been added with much newer content, please check it out above. The senior design project has officially come to an end.

The link above will take you to my senior design project that is required for all Biomedical Engineering majors to complete in their senior year. Here is a brief synopsis on the problem we are trying to tackle and our main objective:

Chip Design (2011)

Tuberculosis (mycobacterium tuberculosis) can be found in nearly 2 billion people worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, only 5-10% of people infected with tuberculosis show recognizable symptoms. The inactive form of tuberculosis can still be spread through the air and hence, non-symptomatic individuals can unknowingly infect others. Untreated hosts carrying tuberculosis will on average infect 10-15 people in one year. Africa and Southeast Asia combine for 65% of the total 9.4 million new cases of TB in 2009. In Africa, tuberculosis is particularly dangerous due to the high rates of HIV prevalence in TB cases. Nearly 2 million people die every year from tuberculosis despite its being fully treatable. In order to effectively reduce the prevalence of tuberculosis in these areas, we must be able to treat the disease faster than it spreads. This is a multistep process that necessitates population screening for the presence of the tuberculosis bacteria, followed by containment and treatment. Our company is proposing a device that can detect tuberculosis bacteria with high sensitivity and at a low cost per individual tested. This device is intended to be used in the screening process to test large populations. Current detection methods require at least 24-48 hours to give positive results. In the highest prevalence countries, full diagnosis is too time consuming and expensive. With our device, agencies like World Health Organization will be able to filter the population requiring diagnosis for tuberculosis down to a manageable size.