An AI-driven microscope that could transform global healthcare
如果你的医生曾经要求进行活组织检查，你可能知道需要多长时间才能完成 诊断. After a specimen is mailed to a lab for analysis, you can sometimes end up waiting weeks until the results come back.
Fortunately, Alex Carney ’22, who earned a degree in 数学 和 物理 从火博体育学院毕业，从达特茅斯学院获得工程学士学位 of 联合学位课程, is working to speed up diagnoses.
三联专业作为总技术工程师在发展中起着举足轻重的作用 of SmartScope, a patent-pending microscope that aims to fix a significant industry 问题:尽管有高分辨率的组织图像和软件 为了查看这些图像，病理学家一直在缓慢地从观察样本切换 glass slides with a conventional microscope to viewing them digitally.
这项创新结合了包括人工智能在内的数字病理软件 (AI)，并将其打包到显微镜中，结合了增强的显微镜设计和功能 用电脑的大脑. In the near future, it will also provide a platform 与AI图像分类算法，可以 即时模拟的结果 多项皮肤检查.
The project is the brainchild of Dartmouth Health dermatopathologist Dr. Aravindhan Sriharan. Carney got involved in fall 2022, when he helped build the device’s initial 软件. He has since transitioned to a leadership role, overseeing the project’s 技术开发，指导新的开发人员，并建立骨干 its 软件 that will allow it to continue to grow.
“No more shipping skin tissue across state lines (or even international borders). Now there can be quicker, more effective, 和 likely less expensive diagnoses for 病人.”Alex Carney’22, chief technical 工程师 in the development of SmartScope
更重要的是，这项技术可以彻底改变癌症和其他疾病的治疗方式 疾病在临床病例中得到诊断，同时改变了各国的卫生保健 和 regions where resources 和 expertise are more limited.
一个火博体育SmartScope如何拯救生命和彻底改变皮肤病理学的动画演示 全球范围内.
卡尼在火博体育度过了前两年和第四年，第三年和第五年 years at Dartmouth, credits his “incredible” Skidmore 教师 mentors for helping to build a strong academic foundation.
他的经历是科学、工程、技术、 和 数学 (STEM) at Skidmore, which range from unique collaborative research conducted with Skidmore 教师 to experiences in the new, state-of-the-art Billie Tisch Center for Integrated Sciences.
在任何时候，至少有10名像卡尼这样的火博体育学生被录取 达特茅斯或伦斯勒理工学院的合作3/2工程项目.
“If I could start college over, I would take the 3-2 path — always with my senior 在火博体育待了一年!卡尼说. “The 3-2 path gave me the opportunity to study at 两个学院兼收并蓄- 严谨的跨学科学术，一个扩大 alumni network, additional on-campus clubs 和 job opportunities, 和 new friends 和经验. Plus, you get to have two first-day-of-college experiences 和 two 毕业典礼.”
从音乐家到工程师
A classical pianist, Carney applied to Skidmore through the 早期的决定 申请过程. Initially, he had hoped to earn a Filene音乐奖学金 和 take advantage of the College’s conservatory-level music 程序 in a liberal 艺术设置.
虽然费林奖学金没有成功，但他成了火博体育奖学金的积极成员 爵士乐队和唱诗班. A fellow student eventually introduced him to the 3/2 工程师ing 程序.
他意识到达特茅斯学院的项目“非常适合像我这样感兴趣的学生 in the sciences but aren't entirely sure what type of career to pursue.”
与此同时，他是通过达特茅斯大学数字学院的会员身份接触到SmartScope的 应用学习和创新实验室(DALI) -一个学生组织，其功能 like a 软件 consulting company.
卡尼在大学的第三年——达特茅斯学院的第一年——做出了决定 DALI was “too interesting an opportunity to pass up.” He spent the following summer honing his web development skills to enhance his DALI application.
回到Skidmore读大四时，他设计并实现了一个web应用程序 for data storage 和 management to support his research projects. 它简化了 从谷歌云下载文件并上传的过程 code without any need for a flash drive.
当他展示他的数据中心时，他创造了“火博体育星系外目录”， a few of his professors told him, “We want that, too. 我们一直在努力 相同的数据问题.”
Alex Carney’22反映了他的数据中心项目的发展，火博体育河外星系 目录，在2022年与本·哈伍德的谈话中，教学技术专家 College’s Learning Experience Design 和 Digital Scholarship 支持 team.
Carney notes similarities between a 软件 工程师ing course (Computer Science 326) that he took at Skidmore with DALI.
“该课程在功能上与DALI类似，因为它涉及学生团队发展 软件 for a simulated sponsor,” he said. “It was h和s d自己的 one of the most fun 和 valuable Skidmore classes that I took, 和 it sealed the deal that I wanted to have the same experience at Dartmouth.”
计算机科学326是一个小班，卡尼说那里有“难以置信的同志情谊”。 among Skidmore students, who had breakfast together after class. 每个星期，他们甚至 ventured d自己的t自己的 for karaoke nights.
卡尼也有为他的量子力学课举办家庭聚会的美好回忆 (物理348)，并与数学和计算方面的同学一起进行家庭作业 Methods (Physics 331) as they all worked together to troubleshoot code that didn’t 这应该是很好的工作.
除了自己的学业，卡尼还发现了作为同行学术教练的“巨大满足感” helping fellow students tackle 物理 和 数学.
从想法到现实
Accepted to the DALI 程序 for his final year at Dartmouth, Carney signed on as a member of a six-person student team to work with Dr. 斯里哈兰，他提出了 SmartScope的想法.
当医生提出他的想法时，没有人知道他在说什么，但是 we accepted the challenge of the unkn自己的 和 began playing around with creating a physical microscope with controls similar to a conventional one but accessible in 数字格式，”卡尼说. “We moved back 和 forth between makerspace 和 the 软件实验室.”
多亏了该团队的学生设计师，显微镜的底盘是3d打印的，组装的 piece by piece, 和 integrated with a computer, camera, 和 internal wiring.
By the end of the fall term, the team had a rough working prototype; by the end of 弹簧，他们有一个精致的设计，三个工作原型已经准备好了 pathologists to assess their efficacy in clinical diagnoses.
不仅任务完成了，而且现在有初步数据显示SmartScope is 50% faster than those working with current industry-leading 软件.
卡尼说，这个项目最具挑战性的部分是大量的机械设备， 电气和软件工程问题必须在每10周内解决 学期.
“每个单独的设备组件都可能需要10周的时间来关注它 自己的. Instead, we adopted the philosophy of finding a suitable solution for each problem 和 quickly moving onto the next one.”
那么，接下来呢?
卡尼将继续担任SmartScope的首席技术人员 工程师.
今年秋天，他开始在达特茅斯的塞耶工程学院攻读博士学位.
“最终，我想通过研究为下一次科学革命做出贡献 在量子计算和模拟行业设置，同时教学和指导 my peers 和 the next generation of scientists.”Alex Carney’22
阅读更多火博体育 Alex Carney’22的观点 on his experience 和 Skidmore’s 3-2 程序 with Dartmouth.
