Design of a Digital Hardware Accelerator for DNA Analysis

This project aims to shorten patient wait time in precision healthcare treatments by speeding-up computerized DNA analysis. In precision or “personalized” medicine, a patient’s treatment is tailored specifically to his/her genetics. In contrast to one-size-fits all treatments, in a precision treatment the medication prescribed to the patient, as well as the medical decisions and practices suggested by the doctor are based on vast statistical data produced by genetic research. This emerging form of medicine has been embraced by both the Canadian and American governments, among others, whose official health research institutes encourage clinicians to offer this form of treatment to patients [1, 2].
Analyzing a person’s DNA, however, takes a long time. On a powerful computer with a 48-core CPU, the shortest execution time recorded was about 48 hours for a regular analysis. This is not satisfactory for precision treatments that are urgent. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Yvon Savaria

Student:

Partner:

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Education

University:

École Polytechnique de Montréal

Program: