Towards medical gas analysis with miniaturised plasma sources and plasma emission spectroscopy
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Project description
Exhaled breath is an abundant and non-invasive source of information about our health status. At SINTEF, miniaturised plasma sources are designed and fabricated as the core components of a gas analysis system aimed at enabling early disease detection without invasive procedures. Recent advances in microfabrication and optical detection techniques have made MEMS-based microplasma devices a promising platform, offering scalability, reproducibility, and integration for medical gas analysis. Miniaturising this approach enables compact, portable systems capable of real-time gas analysis in remote or point-of-need settings.
Expected results/learning outcomes
- Assembled chips prototypes
- Experience in high-voltage MEMS and plasma emission spectroscopy applications
- Dataset of plasma emission spectra for a selected number of chips and testing conditions collected using the available test setup
- Analysis and interpretation of spectral data collected
- Data visualization
Research focus
This master's thesis focuses on packaging and testing the microplasma devices. The project offers an opportunity to explore miniaturised systems for medical diagnostics as well as spectral data analysis, contributing to meaningful and societally important applications.
Desired qualifications
The candidate should have a background and interest in electrical or mechanical engineering, or applied physics or optics, with strong motivation for experimental lab work, a practical and action-oriented to problem-solving and learning, and the ability to organise, process, and describe collected data. They should be self-driven and comfortable working in a dynamic research environment.