About the project
Critically ill patients often receive antimicrobials with unpredictable pharmacokinetics, risking subtherapeutic or toxic levels. This project develops a miniaturized on-chip spectroscopic platform using mid-infrared and Raman techniques with AI analysis for real-time bedside Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, enabling precise, personalized dosing, improving safety, reducing resistance, and optimizing ICU care.
Antimicrobial therapy is central to managing critically ill patients, with 60–80% receiving these drugs at any time. Achieving optimal dosing remains a major clinical challenge. Critically ill patients often display unpredictable pharmacokinetics due to organ dysfunction, comorbidities, renal replacement therapy, or high body mass index (BMI). Standard dosing regimens frequently lead to subtherapeutic or toxic drug levels, compromising outcomes and fostering antimicrobial resistance.
Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is essential to ensure precise, individualized dosing—especially for agents like gentamicin, vancomycin, and voriconazole, which have narrow therapeutic windows and high toxicity risks. Yet, current TDM relies on centralized laboratory analyses (immunoassay or chromatography), causing delays of hours to days. Such lags can be life-threatening in ICUs, where rapid clinical decisions are critical.
This project aims to revolutionize antimicrobial TDM by developing a miniaturized on-chip spectroscopic platform for real-time, bedside drug monitoring. Leveraging advances in mid-infrared (ATR) and Raman spectroscopies, we will customise highly sensitive, disposable chips capable of detecting and quantifying antimicrobials directly from small blood samples. These chips integrate enhanced spectroscopic structures with machine learning to provide instant, accurate drug concentration readouts.
By combining cutting-edge spectroscopy, microfabrication, and AI-based spectral interpretation, this project seeks to create a rapid, user-friendly, point-of-care device that enables clinicians to continuously monitor drug levels and optimize therapy in real time. This research represents a transformative step toward personalized antimicrobial therapy at the bedside, improving patient safety, reducing resistance, and delivering timely precision care in critical settings.
The School of Optoelectronics (ORC) is committed to promoting equality, diversity inclusivity as demonstrated by our Athena SWAN award. We welcome all applicants regardless of their gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or age, and will give full consideration to applicants seeking flexible working patterns and those who have taken a career break.
The University has a generous maternity policy, onsite childcare facilities, and offers a range of benefits to help ensure employees’ well-being and work-life balance. The University of Southampton is committed to sustainability and has been awarded the Platinum EcoAward.
