GOALI: Graphene Paper Sensor for Disease Detection

[1510006] Caryn held 2012年有50多万儿童死于疟疾，但如果早期诊断，这是一种可治疗的疾病。研究人员与工业界和学术界的合作者联合起来，创造了一种一次性的护理点（POC）设备，它有可能拯救许多生命。他们将制作一种传感器的原型，这种传感器能够以非常高的灵敏度检测一滴血液中的一种疟疾寄生虫。经过修改的相同设备可用于检测其他人类病原体，因此有可能降低医疗保健成本。该提案将研究石墨烯纳米血小板（GNP）纸微流体装置作为疟疾敏感、选择性和一次性电化学传感器的导电和毛细排芯性能。研究人员将使用一种新的疟疾生物标志物——寄生拓扑异构酶I （pfTopI）的活性来测试这种新设备。因此，本提案的总体目标是制作石墨烯纸疟疾传感器的原型，该传感器利用pfTopI活性来检测活动性疟疾感染。这个假设是，控制石墨烯/纤维素的组成和化学，加上酶活性的先天扩增，将创造一个廉价的、基于纸张的平台，用于检测一种独特的、选择性的疟疾生物标志物。我们的目标是创造一种可以检测1种寄生虫的传感器/&amp；#956；L（或更少），而目前市场上的设备灵敏度较差，约为50个寄生虫/&amp；#956； L。研究小组将通过1)创建GNP纸传感器，2)通过纸张化学和DNA功能化来提高灵敏度，3)将pfTopI提取与GNP检测相结合以创建POC设备来实现提高灵敏度。在项目期间，我们将让密歇根理工学院和社区学院的研究生和本科生接触到医疗器械的开发过程，国际和多学科团队的相互作用，以及国家和国际层面的科学数据展示。本科学生将参与到当地一所经济条件较差的高中的外展项目，在那里我们将使用手持式万用表演示我们的GNP纸张设备。

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.