Research title:
Stroke Prediction Biomarker through ocular blood flow using Laser Speckle Flowgraphy
Institutions: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Aishah was a Research Scientist at CISIR in UTP from 2017 untill August 2019. Currently, she is a PhD student at UTP working on a combination field of biomedical and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Her research is divided into two main area, first is developing small animal stenosis model using rabbits consisting of surgical techniques, anesthesia, neurological behavior assessment and importantly wellbeing. For animal model study, choosing the right animal are important in order to be a reliable as a tool and translatable for higher purpose. Second part is analysis of ocular blood flow (OBF) modelling through image analysis of Laser Speckle Flowgraphy. The OBF are quantified through the speckle pattern changes over continuous frame capture.
A true KL-ite, Aishah was born and grew up in Kuala Lumpur. She received her primary education in SRK Puchong Jaya, secondary education in SMK Batu 8, Puchong. She continued her A-level matriculation in Malacca in Biology stream. She then received a MARA sponsorship to pursue her Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Science in MSU.
“I was exposed to research during my internship in Novel Antibiotic Lab, UKM. I then decided not to continue MBBS but doing master by research in Health Sciences, in UKM KL. I was majoring in Molecular Microbiology”, said Aishah.
“Then, I continued my PhD in CISIR UTP just because of the topic that really caught my interest, stroke prediction through the eye, even with the fact that I have zero background in engineering”, she added.
For her study, Laser Speckle Flowgraphy was used as a non-invasive imaging modality that capture optic nerve head images in a sequence manner within 4 seconds. This modality quantifies the ocular blood flow (OBF) changes in optic nerve through the speckle pattern changes in accordance to the movement of blood cell movement among the frame sequences.
“Basically, it is an eye scan where the patient or subject just place their chin on the holder and we capture the optic nerve head images. The advantages of this modality are quick just in 4 seconds, there is no application of pupil dilator that normally being done when using fundus whereby the patient can’t see for the next 12 hours, and there is no light flash like fundus. Normally, elderly patient will tend to avoid an eye check because they are afraid of the pupil dilation that causes temporary blurriness and it is time consuming. Therefore, this modality has a good advantage”, said Aishah.