Abstract
This paper demonstrates how research at the intersection of physics, engineering, biology and medicine can be presented in an interactive and educational way to a non-scientific audience. Interdisciplinary research with a focus on prevalent diseases provides a relatable context that can be used to engage with the public. Respiratory diseases are significant contributors to avoidable morbidity and mortality and have a growing social and economic impact. With the aim of improving lung disease understanding, new techniques in fibre-based optical endomicroscopy have been recently developed. Here, we present a novel engagement activity that resembles a bench-to-bedside pathway. The activity comprises an inexpensive educational tool (<$70) adapted from a clinical optical endomicroscopy system and tutorials that cover state-of-the-art research. The activity was co-created by high school science teachers and researchers in a collaborative way that can be implemented into any engagement development process.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 402 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Sensors (Switzerland) |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 10 Jan 2020 |
Funding
Acknowledgments: We would like to thank the Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious Grant (ING1617/11/114) for funding this work. We would like to thank our partner teachers and Scottish Schools Education Research Centre (SSERC) for their invaluable support throughout the project and access to facilities, and the teachers who kindly came to our events and tested the tools within their schools. We also thank the Proteus team for providing materials and advice throughout the project. We would like to thank Manlio Tassieri for his helpful advice on the paper. Furthermore, we thank Ahsan Akram for providing the X-Ray and histology image (Figure 2a) and James Stone for providing the fibre image (Figure 2b). KE, HEP, DKM, AK, DRN, and HSM would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (EP/K03197X/1). MJ would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Royal Academy of Engineering for her personal Research Fellowships (EP/R006482/1 and RF/201718/1741). The Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious Grant (ING1617/11/114). We would like to thank the Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious Grant (ING1617/11/114) for funding this work. We would like to thank our partner teachers and Scottish Schools Education Research Centre (SSERC) for their invaluable support throughout the project and access to facilities, and the teachers who kindly came to our events and tested the tools within their schools. We also thank the Proteus team for providing materials and advice throughout the project. We would like to thank Manlio Tassieri for his helpful advice on the paper. Furthermore, we thank Ahsan Akram for providing the X-Ray and histology image (Figure 2a) and James Stone for providing the fibre image (Figure 2b). KE, HEP, DKM, AK, DRN, and HSM would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (EP/K03197X/1). MJ would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Royal Academy of Engineering for her personal Research Fellowships (EP/R006482/1 and RF/201718/1741).
Keywords
- endoscopic imaging
- fiber optics
- fluorescence imaging
- high school/introduction medicine
- interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary
- lung disease diagnostics
- medical imaging
- medical optics instrumentation
- public understanding/outreach