Holographic imaging sensor for airborne infection control in dental clinics

Objective

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised significant concerns of airborne infection risk, especially for indoor activities. Dental treatments comprise high-risk activities due to the large amount of aerosol particles produced during operatory procedures that may carry pathogens, creating a risk to patients and the clinical team. To address this issue, we formed a team of engineers, virologists, and clinicians to develop a low-cost and compact biosensor for monitoring potentially infectious particles generated during dental procedures and assessing infection risks in real-time. Such information will be used to evaluate operational procedures and air quality in a dental clinic for risk mitigation.

Expected outcome

We will develop a digital holographic imaging sensor that uses: (i) cutting-edge multi-spectral holographic imaging technology to capture optical and spectroscopic signatures of aerosol particles in situ; and (ii) a machine learning (ML) model to detect potential infectious particles and monitor their concentration and associated infection risks. The ML model will be developed using ground-truthing data from systematic dental and virological experiments, and our sensor be deployed in a dental clinic to assess its robustness and durability for long-term operation. Our technology can be extended to many other applications including the control of infection risk in surgical rooms and sterility of liquid samples in food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries.