GOALI: Graphene Paper Sensor for Disease Detection

1510006 Caryn Heldt 2012年有超过50万儿童死于疟疾，但如果早期诊断，这是一种可以治愈的疾病。研究人员与工业和学术合作者联手，创造了一种有可能挽救许多生命的一次性护理点（POC）设备。他们将制作一个传感器的原型，该传感器被功能化，用于以非常高的灵敏度检测一滴血中的一种疟疾寄生虫。 经过修改的相同装置可用于检测其它人类病原体，因此，潜在地降低了医疗保健成本。该提案将研究石墨烯纳米片（GNP）纸微流控装置的导电和毛细芯吸特性，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志物，寄生虫拓扑异构酶I（pfTopI）的活性来测试新设备。因此，该提案的总体目标是原型化石墨烯纸疟疾传感器，其利用pfTopI活性来检测活动性疟疾感染。假设是控制石墨烯/纤维素的组成和化学性质，加上由于酶活性而产生的先天扩增，将创建一个廉价的基于纸的平台，用于检测独特的和选择性的疟疾生物标志物。我们的目标是创建一种可以检测1个寄生虫/l（或更少）的传感器，而目前市场上的设备具有约50个寄生虫/l的低灵敏度。 研究团队将通过以下方式实现灵敏度的提高：1）创建GNP纸传感器，2）通过纸化学和DNA功能化提高灵敏度，3）将pfTopI提取与GNP检测集成以创建POC设备。 在项目期间，我们将让来自密歇根理工大学和社区学院的研究生和本科生了解医疗设备的开发过程，国际和多学科团队的相互作用，以及在国家和国际层面上展示科学数据。本科生将参与一个外展项目，以当地，经济落后的高中，在那里我们将展示我们的GNP纸设备使用手持万用表。

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.