Prof. Sergio Mendes (Physics) working on early detection of the flu

University of Louisville researchers are working on a potential breakthrough for early detection of influenza, pneumonia, eye infections and maybe even cancer. Physics professor Sergio Mendes and his team (bioengineering professor Martin O’Toole and PhD student Jafar Ghithan) have figured out how to capture and detect molecules associated with the flu using ultrathin film on glass, lasers and electroactive waveguides.

“The breakthrough on the technology is there,” Mendes says. “I think we’re the only group in the world that’s able to replicate this particular process.”

Martin O'Toole and Sergio Mendes

Mendes says he’s hoping to find funding to create a hand held device so “you could do the test in the doctor’s office or out in the field.” Physicians would have the results within an hour, instead of waiting for hours on lab results that might come too late for a patient to effectively fight off or minimize the effects of the flu. The early detection could also help stop viral outbreaks from happening.

Mendes and his team are checking the reliability of their test while also trying to improve the technology so it could probe several different viruses, infections or health problems at the same time. Doing that would make the device more marketable. Their work has been selected for the special issue of Optics and Photonics News magazine as the most exciting peer-reviewed research emerging in the field in the past year.