Low-cost Robotic Microscope for High-Throughput Cancer Diagnosis
Project Description
Robotic microscopy is a new term used to describe the synthesis of a number of technologies for automated imaging and analysis with high-throughput and information content in medical imaging of cancer cells and tissues. Conventional fully-automated microscopes with motorised sample positioning and focus control are usually expensive. The hospitals in low-resource setting and developing countries can only have manual microscopes. The objective of this project is to design and fabricate a low-cost robotic module which can be used to convert a manual microscope into a robotic microscope. This low-cost device can significantly improve the efficiency for clinical study of cancer research and medical testing laboratories for cancer diagnosis in developing countries
Supervisor
LEE Yi-Kuen
Quota
2
Course type
UROP1000
UROP1100
UROP2100
UROP3100
UROP4100
Applicant's Roles
Successful candidates are expected to work on the design of the mechanical components, electronics, and the corresponding control program. Students with mechanical, design, electronics, and computer sicence backgrounds are welcome. Key tasks in this project include the following:
• Design of mechanical components for robotic microscopy using SolidWorks
• Electronic circuit design, PCB design, and electronic components assembly
• Electronic circuit design, PCB design, and electronic components assembly
• Optional: substitute the Arduino NANO with an ESP32 and control the device by Bluetooth +
Applicant's Learning Objectives
• Gain hands-on experience for the design and manufacturing of a working robotic system to be used for clinical study of cancer
• Acquire skills in SolidWorks, computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided engineering (CAE) software
• Improve the programming skills in open-source MCU platform, Arduino
• Optional: Learn about IoT and communication between devices (Bluetooth, UART, and Wi-Fi)
Complexity of the project
Moderate