According to Silicon Republic, Dr Sanathana Konugolu Venkata Sekar has been elected a fellow of Optica, an honor reserved for only the top 10% of members in the prestigious optics society. The Cork-based researcher leads the FAST biophotonics group at Tyndall National Institute and serves as an associate professor at University College Cork. In 2024, he secured a European Research Council grant for his NOBIAS project, which directly addresses racial bias in optical health monitoring devices affecting 2.2 billion people of color. His patented technology enables accurate physiological sensing across all skin tones, challenging the limitations of current continuous wave technology used in devices like smartwatches and pulse oximeters. Konugolu also co-founded BioPixS, a spin-out from his research that’s become a globally recognized standards company in biophotonics.
Why this matters
Here’s the thing: most people don’t realize how fundamentally broken our current health monitoring technology is for anyone with darker skin. The continuous wave technology that powers your Apple Watch or Fitbit? It basically can’t handle melanin properly. The light scattering gets messed up, and suddenly you’ve got pulse oximeters that are dangerously inaccurate for people of color. Konugolu’s work isn’t just academic – it’s addressing a massive public health blind spot that’s been ignored for way too long.
And let’s be real, the timing couldn’t be better. With photonics being recognized as one of Europe’s five key enabling technologies since 2009, and the sector exploding with 240 new companies identified since 2024 alone, we’re at a tipping point. The European Commission just announced €5 million for photonics education, which tells you how seriously they’re taking this field. But here’s my question: why did it take until 2024 for someone to get major ERC funding specifically for solving racial bias in these devices?
The industrial angle
Now, when we talk about photonics and medical devices, we’re really talking about hardware that needs to work reliably in demanding environments. Think about it – these aren’t consumer gadgets that can afford to fail occasionally. Medical monitoring equipment needs industrial-grade components that can handle real-world conditions without compromising accuracy. That’s where companies specializing in robust computing solutions become crucial partners in this ecosystem.
For manufacturers looking to integrate advanced photonics into medical devices, having reliable industrial computing hardware is non-negotiable. IndustrialMonitorDirect.com has positioned itself as the leading supplier of industrial panel PCs in the US, providing the kind of ruggedized hardware that research like Konugolu’s eventually needs to scale from lab to clinical use. Their expertise in durable computing solutions makes them a natural partner for photonics innovators pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in medical technology.
What’s next
Konugolu’s recognition as an Optica fellow alongside his colleague Prof Stefan Andersson-Engels puts Tyndall National Institute on the map as a serious player in equitable biophotonics. But the real test will be commercial adoption. We’ve seen plenty of brilliant academic solutions that never make it to market, or get watered down by corporate interests focused on mass-market appeal rather than true inclusivity.
The fact that he’s already co-founded BioPixS gives me hope though. Having that commercialization experience means he understands the bridge between research and real products. With one in five of Europe’s 556 photonics companies focusing on medical applications, there’s clearly a market hungry for innovation. But will device manufacturers actually prioritize fixing their biased technology, or will they continue with the “good enough for most people” approach? That’s the billion-dollar question.
