U.S.-Ireland R&D Partnership: Wearable Dynamic Microsystem Sampler for Collecting Microbial Volatiles (SenSorp)

不同来源的挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）的表征和监测在不同学科中都非常重要。其中一个应用是分析人体皮肤释放的挥发性有机化合物，用于发现生物标志物和疾病诊断。皮肤具有重要的功能，包括保护内部活组织和其他器官，与外部环境建立联系，并具有高代谢活性。已知全身和局部皮肤病会改变人体皮肤的分子和微生物组成。因此，皮肤被认为是关于生理状态的诊断信息的丰富来源。有证据表明，犬类具有复杂的嗅觉能力，可以通过身体的挥发性排放物来检测COVID-19疾病的存在，皮肤挥发性物质在犬类感知癫痫发作中的作用被认为是重要的。开发新的强大和智能的分析工作流程来研究皮肤挥发性有机化合物是很重要的，目的是为可穿戴生物诊断提供新的挥发性生物标志物鉴定。提出的研究提供了第一个标准化皮肤气味收集的方法，并开发了一个易于部署的系统，小如苹果手表，用于即时皮肤VOC收集。SenSorp采用微机电系统（MEMS）和3D打印技术制造，包括一个从皮肤收集VOCs的采样器和一个跟踪收集到的VOCs量的传感器。SenSorp实时测量收集到的VOCs，并通过嵌入在SenSorp智能钥匙中的电子电路通知用户收集到的质量。SenSorp配备了一个新颖的3D打印封装，可以通过其嵌入式阀门机构在皮肤样品采集和存储过程中防止环境中voc的吸附。智能钥匙的旋转将打开或关闭从外部（皮肤/环境）到SenSorp中吸附材料的VOC通道。SenSorp自动注射器是商用气相色谱仪器的接口模块，用于识别皮肤中存在的挥发性有机化合物。该系统在受控的微生物环境中进行验证，并在随后的人体受试者研究中进行验证，是实现该合作努力的最终目标的关键一步，该目标是使皮肤气味成为疾病生物标志物发现和疾病诊断的强大介质。该项目的成果将树立一个杰出的榜样，说明微尺度工程和分析化学如何成为高度互补的方法，以开发低成本、可访问的生物标志物发现和疾病诊断平台。这项研究将促进发现，同时促进本科和研究生水平的教学。这项研究的结果将与弗吉尼亚理工大学的外展计划相结合，该计划主要针对由工程多样性增强中心（CEED）领导的STEM中代表性不足的群体。研究成果将在同行评审期刊、多学科会议和社交媒体（Youtube、LinkedIn和Clubhouse）上向工程和科学界广泛传播。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 characterization and monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from different sources is immensely important in different disciplines. One of these applications is the analysis of VOCs emitted from human skin for biomarker discovery and disease diagnosis. Skin performs critical functions including protection of internal living tissue and other organs, establishes contact to the external environment and has high metabolic activity. Systemic as well as localized skin diseases are known to modify the molecular and microbial composition of human skin. Consequently, the skin is becoming recognized as a wealthy source of diagnostic information regarding physiological status. There is evidence of canines having a sophisticated olfactory ability to detect the presence of COVID-19 disease from the volatile emission of body and the role of skin volatiles in canine sensing of epilepsy attacks is thought to be significant. It is important to develop new robust and smart analytical workflows to study skin VOCs with the goal of new volatile biomarker identification for wearable bio-diagnostics. The proposed research provides the first-of-its-kind approach for standardizing skin scent collection and develops a readily deployable system as small as an apple watch for point-of-care skin VOC collection. The proposed SenSorp is fabricated using microelectromechanical system (MEMS) and 3D printing technologies and includes a sampler to collect VOCs from skin and a sensor to track the amount of VOCs collected. SenSorp measures the collected VOCs in real time and notifies the user about the collected mass through its electronic circuity embedded within the SenSorp’s Smart Key. SenSorp is equipped with a novel 3D printed package that can prevent the adsorption of VOCs from the environment during sample collection from skin and during the storage via its embedded valving mechanism. The rotation of the Smart Key will open or close the VOC pathway from outside (skin/environment) to the adsorption materials in the SenSorp. The SenSorp Auto-Injector is the interface module to commercial gas chromatography instruments for identification of VOCs present in the skin. The validation of the system in controlled microbial environments with subsequent human subject studies is a key step toward the final objective of this collaborative effort, which is to make skin scent a robust medium for disease biomarker discovery and disease diagnosis. The outcome of this project will set an outstanding example of how microscale engineering and analytical chemistry can become highly complementary methodologies to develop low-cost, accessible platforms for biomarker discovery and disease diagnosis. This research will advance discovery while promoting teaching and learning at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The outcome of this research will be integrated with Virginia Tech’s outreach programs targeting mainly under-represented groups in STEM led by the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED). There will be wide dissemination of the research outcomes to the engineering and scientific communities in peer-reviewed journals, in presentation at multidisciplinary conferences, and in social media (Youtube, LinkedIn, and Clubhouse).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.