I-Corps: An inexpensive biosensor for home monitoring of human health

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力与开发家庭医疗诊断工具的需求有关。 该项目可能有助于改变医疗保健的提供方式，可能让消费者在家里管理更多的医疗保健需求。 目前，有一些物理/机械设备可以做到这一点;例如，血压袖带和无线秤，以帮助管理心脏病。 相比之下，只有极少数的化学设备可用于家庭用途：主要是用于管理糖尿病的血糖仪。 该项目中开发的传感器将有可能帮助500万美国心力衰竭患者以低成本和舒适的方式管理他们的慢性疾病。 这将改善家庭医疗保健的提供，延长生命，节省资金，并大大提高生活质量。这个I-Corps项目是基于一个简单的传感器，检测心脏健康的目标分子特征的存在。该检测策略采用了一种新的电化学方法，可以从患者的一滴血液中提供有关心脏健康的定量信息。 检测仅需5分钟，检测结果通过安全的手机连接传输到医生的办公室。传感器平台由纸制成，类似于喷墨打印机中使用的纸，并且通过丝网印刷制成检测目标所需的电极。 这些简单的材料和制造方法有助于确保生产设备的成本低。 初步结果表明，该传感器的预原型版本能够检测尿液中肾衰竭的目标特征。 然而，仍然有必要证明该装置将与未过滤的全血一起工作。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project relates to the need of developing diagnostic tools for home healthcare. The project may help enable a shift in the way healthcare is delivered by potentially having consumers manage more of their healthcare needs at home. At present, there are a few physical/mechanical devices available for doing this; for example, blood pressure cuffs and wireless scales for helping to manage heart disease. In contrast, there are just a tiny handful of chemical devices available for home use: primarily the glucometer for managing diabetes. The sensor that will be developed in this project will potentially help the 5 million American sufferers of heart failure manage their chronic disease at a low cost and in the comfort of their own home. This will improve the delivery of home healthcare, extend lives, save money, and greatly improve the quality of life.This I-Corps project is based on a simple sensor that detects the presence of a target molecule characteristic of cardiac health. The detection strategy employs a novel electrochemical method that provides quantitative information about heart health from a tiny drop of the patient's blood. Detection takes just about 5 minutes, and the outcome of the assay is transmitted to a doctor's office via a secure cell phone connection. The sensor platform is made of paper, like that used in ink jet printers, and electrodes necessary for detection of the target are made by screen printing. These simple materials and fabrication methods help to ensure that the cost of producing the device is low. Preliminary results show that a pre-prototype version of the sensor is able to detect a target characteristic of kidney failure in urine. It is still necessary, however, to demonstrate that the device will work with unfiltered whole blood.