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

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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.