Photonics firm a finalist in Nokia sensing contest

A firm founded by University of California, Los Angeles, professor Aydogan Ozcan and his students has made it to the final round of a $2.25 million international competition for companies improving health care by developing consumer-friendly sensing devices. Holomic LLC is one of 12 finalists in the 2013 Nokia Sensing XChallenge, a contest designed to spur advances in mobile health technologies. Judges will award prizes up to $525,000 to firms developing reliable sensors for identifying and diagnosing diseases and other health conditions. Among other creations, Holomic has developed compact lens-free microscopes and diagnostic tools that can be attached to camera phones to test blood samples and other bodily fluids.