No abstract

As the impact of COVID-19 on society became apparent, the engineering and scientific community recognized the need for innovative solutions. Two potential roadmaps emerged: developing short-term solutions to address the immediate needs of the healthcare communities and developing mid/long-term solutions to eliminate the over-arching threat. However, in a truly global effort, researchers from all backgrounds came together in tackling this challenge. Short-term efforts have focused on re-purposing existing technologies and leveraging additive manufacturing techniques to address shortages in personal protective equipment and disinfection. More basic research efforts with mid-term and long-term impact have emphasized developing novel diagnostics and accelerating vaccines. As a foundational technology, photonics has contributed directly and indirectly to all efforts. This perspective will provide an overview of the critical role that the photonics field has played in efforts to combat the immediate COVID-19 pandemic as well as how the photonics community could anticipate contributing to future pandemics of this nature.

Despite significant success in therapeutic development, malaria remains a widespread and deadly infectious disease in the developing world. Given the nearly 100% efficacy of current malaria therapeutics, the primary barrier to eradication is lack of early diagnosis of the infected population. However, there are multiple strains of malaria. Although significant efforts and resources have been invested in developing antibody-based diagnostic methods for Plasmodium falciparum, a rapid and easy to use screening method capable of detecting all malaria strains has not been realized. Yet, until the entire malaria-infected population receives treatment, the disease will continue to impact society. Here, we report the development of a portable, magneto-optic technology for early stage malaria diagnosis based on the detection of the malaria pigment, hemozoin. Using β-hematin, a hemozoin mimic, we demonstrate detection limits of <0.0081 μg/mL in 500 μL of whole rabbit blood with no additional reagents required. This level corresponds to <26 parasites/μL, a full order of magnitude below clinical relevance and comparable to or less than existing technologies.

In winter of 2020, SARS-CoV-2 emerged as a global threat, impacting not only health but also financial and political stability. To address the societal need for monitoring the spread of SARS-CoV-2, many existing diagnostic technologies were quickly adapted to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA and antigens as well as the immune response, and new testing strategies were developed to accelerate time-to-decision. In parallel, the infusion of research support accelerated the development of new spectroscopic methods. While these methods have significantly reduced the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on society when coupled with behavioral changes, they also lay the groundwork for a new generation of platform technologies. With several epidemics on the horizon, such as the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the ability to quickly pivot the target pathogen of this diagnostic toolset will continue to have an impact.

A new device which combines both acousto-optic and electro-optic effects in one integrated manner using surface acoustic wave technology has been implemented and offers unique advantages. In particular, this permits an additional input port for information which leads to compact implementation and simplified architecture in optical signal processing applications. The objective of this letter is to present some theoretical and experimental results in the Raman–Nath regime. These are found to agree over the range of investigation.