By Laura Cummings
Dr. Adrian Chan is showing the world that science and our five senses go hand in hand.
An associate professor in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Chan has helped develop an electronic “nose” to help sniff out bacteria, like strep throat.
In fact, some recent results are proving quite promising. Chan, along with partners at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have also had success in detecting and identifying different food-borne bacteria such as E.coli and Listeria.
Using odour to determine whether a patient is healthy or infected, the hand-held computer instrument will enable doctors to diagnose diseases without lengthy blood work.
Chan, who has a long list of awards and accolades including a Carleton University Teaching Achievement Award, an Award from the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society and a Capital Educator’s Award, is also exploring the area of touch, researching improvements for upper-arm prosthetics.
He’s exploring ways to improve signal quality between an individual’s muscles and their prosthetic, meaning better control and more accuracy for anyone wearing the device.
The goal of his research is to copy the myoelectric signals transmitted by arm muscles when a hand is opened, closed or rotated, and match it to certain prosthetic functions. The prosthetic can then identify the different signals and follow its user’s commands.
Muscle signals won’t always stay the same for each function, Chan added. He is exploring changes in limb position and the load a limb is carrying. “Even changes in body temperature can alter signals”, he said.
According to Chan, smart prostheses are needed so the device can adjust to differences like a natural limb.
Currently, Chan and his colleagues are creating a set of algorithms that react quickly to these types of signal changes, and make split-second decisions.
“(In the past), myoelectric signals were recorded at different muscle sites and if you flexed your bicep sufficiently hard, it would control your hand. If you flexed your tricep you would control a different part of the limb,” Chan said in interview last year. “But that’s not intuitive. We’re looking for ways to make it more intuitive for the user.”