Researchers on the Indiana University Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering are advancing biomedical research by making use of synthetic intelligence and machine studying to an revolutionary lab-on-a-chip know-how often known as acoustofluidics, or the manipulation of cells in liquid utilizing sound waves.
Adding AI to this know-how may assist scientists establish new remedies faster and extra successfully. Led by Feng Guo, an IU affiliate professor of clever programs engineering, this research was just lately awarded $1.5 million from the National Institutes of Health.
“The goal of our lab is to leverage artificial intelligence and organoid computing — what we call biological intelligence — to further advance or innovate biomedical systems to address the challenges for medicine, healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry,” mentioned Guo, who can also be director of the Intelligent Biomedical Systems Lab on the IU Luddy School.
Acoustofluidics makes use of the rules of fluid dynamics to manipulate organic supplies, similar to chemical compounds or cells, in answer with sound. The course of — additionally referred to as “acoustic tweezers” — provides vital benefits to different strategies of manipulating these supplies within the lab, mentioned Guo, who studied beneath a pioneer in the field earlier than becoming a member of IU.
Unlike conventional liquid-handling strategies, similar to pipetting, acoustofluidics is totally contactless, lowering the dangers of cross-contamination that may simply damage experiments involving organic supplies.
The methodology is innocent to dwelling cells and doesn’t require the usage of chemical tags, similar to fluorescent dyes or radioactive labels, Guo mentioned.
“Acoustofluidics is completely contactless, label-free and highly biocompatible,” he mentioned, including that the know-how has the potential to enhance a variety of medical research areas, similar to infectious illness, most cancers research and regenerative medication.
The power of acoustofluidics will be seen in motion beneath a microscope. Guo’s research has produced video exhibiting the chaotic swirl of cells in answer transforming into precisely controlled actions utilizing solely sound waves, as microscopic particles spin and march in inflexible formation.
The introduction of AI into this method raises the opportunity of real-time monitoring and adaptive management of complicated biomedical experiments, Guo mentioned. AI can react a lot faster than human scientists, who want to pause their experiments after every change within the system beneath evaluation to decide how to proceed.
By distinction, AI can react nearly instantaneously. For instance, Guo mentioned that making use of AI to acoustofluidics may enable faster protein evaluation or screening of potential drug compounds — each of that are wanted in customized medication, the place medicine and dosages are tailor-made to a affected person’s particular biology.
“AI can help you generate the best protocol,” Guo mentioned. “It can provide dynamic feedback and dynamic monitoring to control fast, quick chemical reactions.”
Applications of the know-how that Guo has disclosed to the IU Innovation and Commercialization Office embrace a technique of quickly analyzing the impact of drug compounds on immune cell interactions in tumors; the usage of acoustic fields to stimulate tissues or organs, similar to neurons or muscle mass; and even utilizing acoustic therapeutic patches to ship exact drug dosages via the pores and skin. He additionally holds a broader U.S. patent on the technology.
Under the brand new NIH grant, Guo expects to recruit a brand new postdoctoral researcher and a number of undergraduate college students to the Intelligent Biomedical Systems Lab, as well as to the 9 graduate, undergraduate and postdoctoral college students who at present comprise the group. Guo can also be a co-lead on a $16.5 million Alzheimer’s research grant with the IU School of Medicine in addition to a $2 million NSF award supporting pioneering research on brain organoid computing technology. Both tasks additionally use clever acoustofluidics and organ chip programs.
Guo’s research has already attracted the curiosity of a number of healthcare startups, together with one interested by doubtlessly licensing a few of the know-how.
“We really want to push for that translational impact — to find the practical challenge for industry or clinical translational medicine and leverage our efforts into the workforce,” he mentioned, including that his lab’s aim isn’t merely to advance acoustofluidics but additionally to pursue functions of the know-how with the best potential impression in the actual world.
“I do work to promote medicine, biology and chemistry, but I’m trained in physics and engineering,” he mentioned. “What I aways say is scientists want to understand the world, but engineers want to change it.”