SBIR Phase I: Real-Time Allergen Detection Technology for Dietary Proteins Transferred to Human Milk

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是提供第一个准确、快速和经济有效地确定人乳中过敏原含量的测试。据报告，多达25%的婴儿对人乳中的膳食蛋白质有过敏反应，这往往导致终止母乳/身体喂养。母乳/身体喂养对健康非常有益，持续的护理是一个人类健康问题。研究表明，母乳优于低过敏性配方奶粉，提供对抗疾病的天然抗体，降低婴儿猝死综合症的风险，并降低患糖尿病和白血病等疾病的可能性。目前市场上还没有针对牛奶过敏原的家庭实时测试。这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在开发一种实时的家庭过敏原检测测试。这个项目奠定了基础，提供了第一个机制，研究早期和经常通过人乳引入过敏原，当免疫系统已被证明对减少过敏的策略敏感。该公司正在申请专利的技术有可能提供一种快速、经济有效地识别过敏原的工具，使父母能够监测可能引发过敏原的存在。该测试由用户在家中实时完成，与需要将样品送到实验室进行劳动和资源密集型分析的现有测试相比，这是一个显著的优势。侧流技术提供了一个快速和易于阅读的结果，允许用户快速确定牛奶是否含有特定的非人类蛋白质片段，这些蛋白质片段也已知会引起一些患者的过敏反应。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 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to provide the first test to determine the allergen content of human milk accurately, quickly, and cost-effectively. As much as 25% of infants have reported allergic responses to dietary proteins found in human milk which often results in breast/body feeding termination. Breast/body feeding is incredibly beneficial to health and continuation of nursing is a human health issue. Studies indicate that human milk is superior to hypoallergenic formula, providing natural antibodies to fight illness, lowering the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, and reducing the probability of developing disorders such as diabetes and leukemia. There is currently no at-home, real-time test for milk allergens on the market.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to develop a real-time at-home allergen detection test. This project lays the groundwork for providing the first mechanism to research early and often allergen introduction through human milk when the immune system has been shown to be susceptible to allergy reduction strategies. The company’s patent-pending technology has the potential to provide a tool to identify allergens quickly and cost-effectively, allowing parents to monitor the presence of likely allergen triggers. The test is performed by the user in a real-time, in an at-home setting, which is a significant advantage over existing tests that require samples to be sent to a laboratory for labor and resource-intensive assays. The lateral flow technology provides a rapid and easy-to-read result, allowing the user to quickly determine whether the milk contains specific non-human protein fragments which are also known to elicit allergic responses in some patients.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.