Optical Detector for microfluidics Project
X-ray crystallography enables the determination of the internal structure of molecules, including proteins, DNA, and viruses. This analysis is valuable in various fields, such as developing vaccines against viruses or understanding cell behavior. Previously in the history of crystallography, the analysis was performed individually for each crystal, making it complex and requiring small sample quantities. In this regard, the Institute for Infectious Disease Research, the MAX IV laboratory located in Lund, contacted Halmstad University to collaborate on launching a research project called "AdaptoCell" to establish a new crystallography solution. AdaptoCell's main goal is to design, develop, and provide a microfluidic flow cell platform for MAX IV laboratory users. This platform is tailored to each X-ray investigation method and is deployed to study proteins in solution and facilitate serial crystallography using microcrystals.
In this context, Halmstad University, represented by Mr. Ross Friel, offered an internship to Hugo Ponsard, a student from POLYTECH Nantes (France). The internship aimed to develop a system to assist technicians responsible for crystallography at the MAX IV laboratory in Lund. To achieve this, the work focused on obtaining a data retrieval system based on the previously conceptualized detection system from a previous thesis (Gomez 2.0, 2019). This detection system's purpose is to provide clear information to technicians about bubble and crystal concentrations in the microfluidic device, their timing, size, and more. To accomplish this, we agreed on creating an electronic system to collect data from the optical detector and transmit it to a computer system. This computer system will handle data retrieval, processing, and the creation of a user-friendly graphical interface. It was agreed that this system should be modular without requiring technicians to modify the code, and the graphical interface should be easy to understand.
In this project, you will find the Arduino code used for retrieving data from the optical photodiode detector (Arduino UNO). Next, you will find two Java codes: one for data retrieval and processing by the computer system, and the other for creating a graphical interface to display information related to each bubble and crystal present in the microfluidic device.