I-Corps: Low-cost photothermal nanosensors for quantitative biomarker detection using a thermometer

I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发新的、低成本的便携式生物标志物检测方法，以应对不断增长的生物分子检测器市场，用于各种应用，如疾病诊断和癌症生物标志物检测。例如，前列腺癌是美国男性癌症死亡的第二大原因。据估计，今年将有191,930个新病例和33,330人死于该病。然而，目前的前列腺癌诊断技术是侵入性的，并且需要昂贵的仪器，这大大削弱了它们在低资源环境下（如医生办公室或患者床边）的即时检测能力。提出的光热纳米生物传感器使用温度计进行定量生物传感。纳米生物传感器快速、低成本、微创，不需要昂贵的设备和训练有素的人员进行数据记录和处理；这可能使前列腺特异性抗原（PSA，一种前列腺癌生物标志物）测试在小医生的办公室。基于温度计的纳米生物传感器也可用于检测各种其他疾病生物标志物和生物化学物质。I-Corps项目的基础是开发基于温度计的纳米传感器，用于即时检测前列腺特异性抗原（PSA）等生物标志物。这项创新是基于一种使用温度计作为信号读取器的生物传感方法。基于温度计的纳米生物传感器不仅快速，低成本和便携，而且最大限度地减少了仪器要求。此外，纳米生物传感器提供了与传统免疫分析方法相当的检测灵敏度。提出的光热免疫传感器可能为负担得起的疾病生物标志物检测开辟新的机会。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of new, low-cost, portable biomarker detection methods in response to the growing market of biomolecular detectors for various applications such as disease diagnosis and cancer biomarker detection at the point of care. For example, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States. It is estimated that 191,930 new cases and 33,330 deaths from this disease will occur this year. However, the current technologies for prostate cancer diagnosis are invasive, and require expensive instrumentation, which significantly impairs their capacity for point-of-care (POC) detection in low-resource settings such as physician’s offices or at a patient’s bedside. The proposed photothermal nanobiosensor uses a thermometer for quantitative biosensing. The nanobiosensor is rapid, low-cost, minimally invasive, and does not require expensive equipment and trained personnel for data recording and processing; This may enable prostate-specific antigen (PSA, a prostate cancer biomarker) testing in small physician’s offices. The thermometer-based nanobiosensor also may be used to detect a variety of other disease biomarkers and biochemicals.This I-Corps project is based on the development of the thermometer-based nanosensor for point-of-care (POC) detection of biomarkers such as the prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The innovation is based on a biosensing method using a thermometer as the signal reader. The thermometer-based nanobiosensor is not only rapid, low-cost, and portable, but also minimizes instrumentation requirements. In addition, the nanobiosensor offers comparable detection sensitivity to conventional immunoassay methods. The proposed photothermal immunosensor may open up new opportunities for affordable detection of disease biomarkers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.