SBIR Phase I: A Near-Instantaneous, Whole Blood Immunoassay

这一小型企业技术转移第一阶段项目(SBIR)将有助于开发一种几乎即时的、全光学生物传感技术，以取代ELISA型(酶联免疫吸附分析)检测。利用金属纳米壳的独特光学性质，利用表面增强拉曼散射技术，可以在高生理透过率的近红外区域(波长在800-1300 nm之间)进行免疫分析。进行这种免疫分析所需的设备将是高度便携和廉价的。对模型抗原的初步研究表明，基于纳米壳的检测可以在20秒内对全血样本产生结果。这在数量上相当于需要24至48小时的ELISA结果。这项拟议的研究将调查将临床上重要的抗体生物结合到纳米壳表面的影响，以及用于多抗原/分析物分析的多个拉曼染料的检查。该项目正在开发的技术的主要商业应用是在200亿美元的免疫分析市场。这项拟议的研究可能会导致救护车、军事和民用卫生机构、护理点分析和大容量药物测试的快速免疫分析设备。核心技术可能在生物芯片领域、基因组学和蛋白质组学研究以及动物生物学中有更多的商业应用。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase 1 Project (SBIR) will contribute towards the development of a near-instantaneous, all-optical biosensing technology to replace ELISA-type (enzyme-linked immunoadsorbant assay) assays. Utilizing the unique optical properties of Metal Nanoshells, a new type of nanoparticle containing a dielectric core coated with a thin metal layer, immunoassays can be performed in the near-infrared region of high physiological transmissivity (wavelengths between 800 and 1300 nm) using Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering techniques. The equipment required to perform this immunoassay will be both highly portable and inexpensive. Initial research with a model antigen has shown that the nanoshell-based assay can produce results on whole-blood samples in 20 seconds. This is quantitatively equivalent to ELISA results requiring 24 to 48 hours. The proposed research will investigate the effects of bioconjugation of clinically important antibodies onto the nanoshell surface and examination of multiple Raman dyes for multi-antigen/analyte assays .The primary commercial application of the technology being developed in this project is in the $20 billion immunoassay market. The proposed research could lead to rapid immunoassay devices for ambulances, military and civilian health agencies, point-of-care analysis and high volume pharmaceutical testing. The core technology may have additional commercial applications in the area of biochips, in genomics and proteomics research, and in animal biology