Venkat K. Balagurusamy           

Recent years I have been involved in developing Verifier-based technologies that find applications in different fields ranging from Diamond industry to Food industry. They deploy smartphones for sensing empowered by AI algorithms. I am also interested in developing low-cost mobile biosensors employing nanotechnology approaches.

I worked in the nanopore DNA sequencing project on different aspects of them starting from nanopore noise measurements and reduction, developing nanopore wetting and stabilization methods, DNA base sensing by nanowire gap junction devices and so on.

I co-invented a novel DNA trapping method and we worked out the details of the proposed method theoretically. The method showed that DNA protein complexes would be trapped in a  nanogap. A number of inventions were made based on this proposed method. The theoretical work and preliminary experimental results obtained with DNA molecules have been published.  

I made key contributions in reducing the noise in nanowire gap junction devices to measure about 10 pA current pulses over a background current of few hundred pA. This was a critical step in establishing DNA base sensing measurements by electron tunneling. The results of these studies have recently been published. 

I am also interested in developing low-cost mobile biosensors based on smart phones.