GOALI: Graphene Paper Sensor for Disease Detection

1510006 Caryn Held 2012年有50多万儿童死于疟疾，但只要及早诊断，这是一种可以治愈的疾病。研究人员与工业界和学术界的合作者联手创造了一种有可能拯救许多人生命的一次性护理点(POC)设备。他们将制作一种传感器的原型，这种传感器具有很高的灵敏度，可以检测到一滴血中的一种疟疾寄生虫。经过修改的相同设备可以用于检测其他人类病原体，因此有可能降低医疗成本。该提案将检测石墨烯纳米血小板(GNP)纸微流控设备的导电和毛细管吸湿性能，作为一种灵敏、选择性和一次性的疟疾电化学传感器。研究人员将使用一种新的疟疾生物标记物--寄生虫拓扑异构酶I(PfTopI)的活性来测试新设备。因此，这项提议的总体目标是制作一种石墨烯纸疟疾传感器的原型，该传感器利用pfTopI活性来检测活跃的疟疾感染。假设是，控制石墨烯/纤维素的组成和化学，再加上酶活性的固有放大，将创建一个廉价的纸基平台，用于检测独特的和选择性的疟疾生物标记物。我们的目标是创造一种能够检测1种寄生虫(或更少)的传感器，而目前市场上的设备对寄生虫的敏感度只有50%左右。研究团队将通过1)创造一种国民生产总值纸质传感器，2)通过纸张化学和DNA功能化来提高灵敏度，3)将pfTopI提取与国民生产总值检测相结合来创造一种POC设备。在项目期间，我们将向密歇根理工大学和社区学院的研究生和本科生介绍医疗设备的开发过程，国际和多学科团队的相互合作，以及在国家和国际层面上的科学数据展示。本科生将参与到当地一所经济困难的高中的外展项目，在那里我们将使用手持万用表演示我们的GNP纸设备。

1510006 Caryn HeldtOver half a million children died in 2012 from malaria, yet with early diagnosis, this is a treatable disease. The investigators have joined forces with industrial and academic collaborators to create a disposable point-of-care (POC) device that has the potential to save many lives. They will prototype a sensor that is functionalized for detection at a very high sensitivity of one malarial parasite in a droplet of blood. The same device with modifications may be used for detecting other human pathogens, and therefore, potentially reduce health care costs.The proposal will examine the conductive and capillary wicking properties of a graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) paper microfluidic device as a sensitive, selective, and disposable electrochemical sensor for malaria. The investigators will test the new device using a novel malaria biomarker, the activity of parasitic Topoisomerase I (pfTopI). Thus, the overall objective of this proposal is to prototype a graphene paper malaria sensor that utilizes pfTopI activity to detect an active malaria infection. The hypothesis is that controlling the graphene/cellulose composition and chemistry, coupled with innate amplification due to enzymatic activity, will create an inexpensive, paper-based platform for detection of a unique and selective malaria biomarker. Our goal is to create a sensor that can detect 1 parasite/μl (or less), whereas the current devices on the market have poor sensitivity of ~50 parasites/μl. The research team will realize the improved sensitivity by 1) Creating a GNP paper sensor, 2) Improving the sensitivity through paper chemistry and DNA functionalization and 3) Integrating pfTopI extraction with GNP detection for creating a POC device. During the project period, we will expose graduate and undergraduate students from Michigan Tech and community colleges to the development process of a medical device, the interworking of an international and multidisciplinary team, and the presentation of scientific data at a national and international level. The undergraduate students will be involved with an outreach project to a local, economically disadvantaged high school, where we will demonstrate our GNP paper device using a handheld multi-meter.