PFI-TT: Development of a Graphene-Based Bifunctional Electrochemical Microchip Sensor for Colorectal Cancer

这一创新技术转化伙伴关系(PFI-TT)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是将一种有效的、护理点的结直肠癌细胞检测测试商业化。2020年，结直肠癌(CRC)是美国第二大癌症死亡原因。这项新的检测将提供一种非侵入性、快速和准确的方法来检测结直肠癌，这不仅将影响个别患者的生活，还将显著降低医疗成本。如果商业上可行，拟议的无标记/实时结直肠癌生物传感器还将有助于生物传感技术的新的科学和工程发现，目前预计这一市场将达到200亿美元。由此产生的设备可以作为临床前诊断的CRC测试。此外，基于微芯片生物传感器的研究可能会改进使用类似系统和生物标记物的一系列同等研究。西班牙裔学生和博士后研究员将有机会通过这个项目学习创业和创新的基本概念。拟议的项目力求系统地了解实时灵敏检测结直肠癌细胞的护理点诊断技术的必要性和商业可行性。该技术利用电化学阻抗谱(EIS)通过发生在导电交叉指石墨烯/金基微芯片界面上的表面敏感电化学事件来检测特定的结直肠癌生物标志物。建议的方法结合了电化学传感平台公认的敏感性和独有生物标志物探针的众所周知的特异性，提供了一种传感器解决方案，具有所需的便携性、可靠性、速度和准确性，以实现结直肠癌的早期检测，以便进行现场检测(例如初级保健医生办公室)。此外，该项目允许进行必要的测量和研究，以成熟技术以走向商业化和技术示范的原型。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to commercialize an effective, point-of-care, colorectal cancer cell detection test. Colorectal cancer (CRC) was the second most common cause of cancer deaths in the United States in 2020. This novel test will provide a non-invasive, fast, and accurate method to detect CRC that will not only impact the lives of individual patients, but also significantly reduce healthcare costs. If commercially viable, the proposed no-label/real-time colorectal cancer biosensor will also contribute to new scientific and engineering findings in biosensing technology, which is currently projected to be a $20 billion market. The resulting device may serve as a CRC test for preclinical diagnosis. In addition, the research based on the microchip biosensors may improve a range of equivalent studies that use similar systems and biomarkers. Hispanic students and postdoctoral fellows will have the opportunity to learn the basic concepts of entrepreneurship and innovation through this project. The proposed project seeks to systematically develop an understanding of the need and commercial viability of a point-of-care diagnostic technology for the sensitive detection of colorectal cancer cells in real-time. The proposed technology utilizes electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) for the detection of specific colorectal cancer biomarkers by a means of surface sensitive electrochemical events occurring at the interface of a conductive, interdigital graphene/gold based microchip. The proposed method combines the recognized sensitivity of electrochemical sensing platforms and the well-known specificity of exclusive biomarker probes, to provide a sensor solution with the needed portability, reliability, speed, and accuracy required to achieve early colorectal cancer detection for point-of-care testing (e.g. primary care doctor’s office). Moreover, this project allows for the necessary measurements and studies required to mature the techniques to move towards commercialization and prototypes for technology demonstration.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.