Medical Diagnostics

The Lightsense spectrometer platform forms the basis for analytical instruments for use in non-invasive medical diagnostics to analyze bodily fluids, such as saliva, sputum, urine and sweat. Combined with AI analytics, patterns in the spectra can be used to detect biomarkers for disease and recognize the current condition and disease progression. Several applications have reached the proof-of-principle stage, but where more research is needed:

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the 3rd leading cause of death with an estimated 330 million people affected worldwide. The central problem COPD disease management is the ability to predict and avoid debilitating exacerbations, periodic flare-ups of adverse lung conditions that in severe cases result in expensive hospitalization, sometimes several times a year. There are no reliable diagnostic tests on the market that can predict exacerbations. Preliminary results from Lightsense partners have shown that a handheld spectrometer as a point-of-care instrument can predict exacerbations and prevent hospitalization.

Patient Monitoring During Dialysis

Effective monitoring of hemodialysis detoxification with IR spectroscopy has been proven with laboratory spectrometers. Lightsense spectrometers can be fitted to standard hemodialysis systems for in-line, real-time monitoring leading to increased effectiveness and patient safety.

Urine Analysis

A number of diseases can be diagnosed and monitored with urine analysis of biomarkers. An example is creatinine measurement to determine kidney function where measurements with handheld spectrometers provides excellent correlation with standard measurements.

Drug Quality Control

Lightsense spectrometers have demonstrated applicability to providing accurate control of compounded drug mixtures in hospital pharmacies. A specially designed spectrometer system can analyze drug formulation through drug containers such as syringes. The drug quality control system will connect to Cloud-based databases with AI analytics.

Chemotherapy medications consist of mixtures of several drugs. A verification method is required for the admixture rather than measuring each component separately prior to mixing. The various components and their ratios are affected by the individual delivery systems, adjustable by the administering technician. A system based on Photoemission Reflection Spectrometer has been demonstrated to provide accurate information about the final admixture, adding a critical safety factor in the process.

Drug Purity

Ineffective malarial drugs constitute a serious problem and results in thousands of deaths yearly in Africa. Research has shown that handheld spectrometers can detect fake anti-malarial drugs. Lightsense spectrometers can be used to readily detect fake drugs such as Viagra.