EAGER: APTAMER-INFUSED GRAPHENE TRANSISTOR TATTOOS AS TEMPORARY SWEAT BIOSENSING PLATFORM

汗液是一种富含基本生物分析物的生物液体，对人体内发生的生理过程具有宝贵的见解。目前的生物体液检测方法，无论是在汗液、血液还是间质液中，都具有耗时、侵入性和昂贵的特点，使得它们不适合普通人群的常规使用。引导个人到医院或诊所进行持续的生物流体监测的挑战阻碍了建立一个全面的检测数据库及其与行为模式的相关性。一个值得注意的例子是人体生物体液中皮质醇的存在，这是一种与压力、中风、库欣综合征和艾迪生病等疾病相关的生物标志物。尽管具有重要意义，但现有技术在实现定期间歇监测汗液或其他生物体液中的皮质醇方面存在不足，特别是在非临床、按需环境中。因此，迫切需要开发一种新的方式，允许对汗液的化学成分进行表面和用户友好的监测，方便普通人日常使用。这项研究的影响超越了技术创新，涵盖了教育和社会层面。研究生培训和本科生参与研究过程是这一倡议的组成部分。此外，为培养生物医学工程专业的本科生为研究生院做准备的领导努力有助于扩大该领域的参与。此外，传播教育录像是提高对这一跨学科领域的认识和培养兴趣的积极办法。这些努力共同有助于弥合先进技术研究与更广泛的社区之间的差距，使这一主题易于接触并吸引不同的受众。研究人员建议利用石墨烯纹身技术，通过适配体和偏压将其进一步功能化，直接通过皮肤作为晶体管。通过这种方式，该团队将创造一种注入适体门控石墨烯纹身晶体管的技术——一种监测个人健康的新方法。这样一种汗液生物传感晶体管纹身将通过独特的皮肤门控效应，在人体中进行偏置。概念验证设备将被设计为针对皮质醇（一种重要的压力生物标志物），但该技术将是多模式的，以后可以针对各种生物分子、细胞因子和病毒的检测，并成为未来个性化医疗保健的关键。研究人员希望这些汗液纹身生物传感晶体管能够自我管理，允许非临床和按需生物传感，从而实现对汗液生物分析物的频繁甚至连续监测。除了频繁监测分析物的任务外，该技术还具有改善疾病预后和预防方法的潜力。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。

Sweat, a biofluid rich in essential bioanalytes, holds valuable insights into the physiological processes occurring within the human body. Current methods of biofluid testing, whether in sweat, blood, or interstitial fluid, are characterized by their time-consuming, invasive, and costly nature, rendering them impractical for regular use by the general population. The challenges associated with directing individuals to hospitals or clinics for continuous biofluid monitoring hinder the establishment of a comprehensive detection database and its correlation with behavioral patterns. One noteworthy example is the presence of cortisol in human biofluids, a biomarker associated with conditions such as stress, stroke, Cushing's syndrome, and Addison's disease. Despite its significance, existing technologies fall short in enabling regular intermittent monitoring of cortisol in sweat or other biofluids, especially in non-clinical, on-demand settings. Therefore, there is a compelling need to develop a novel modality that allows for superficial and user-friendly monitoring of the chemical composition of sweat, facilitating daily use by ordinary individuals. The impact of this research extends beyond technological innovation to encompass educational and societal dimensions. Graduate student training and the involvement of undergraduate students in the research process are integral components of this initiative. Additionally, leadership efforts in creating and spearheading programs that prepare undergraduates in biomedical engineering for graduate school contribute to goal of broadening participation within the field. Moreover, the dissemination of educational videos constitutes a proactive approach to increasing awareness and fostering interest in this interdisciplinary domain. These efforts collectively serve to bridge gaps between advanced technological research and the broader community, making the subject accessible and engaging to a diverse audience. The investigators propose to leverage the technology of graphene tattoos, by further functionalizing them with aptamers and bias as transistors directly via the skin. This way, the team will create the technology of aptamer-infused body-gated graphene tattoo transistors – a novel way to monitor one’s health. Such a sweat biosensing transistor tattoo will be biased through the body, via the unique skin-gating effect. The proof-of-concept devices will be designed to target cortisol, an important biomarker of stress, yet the technology will be multimodal and later can target detection of various biomolecules, cytokines, and viruses and be pivotal for future personalized healthcare. The investigators expect these sweat tattoo biosensing transistors to be self-administrable, allowing for non-clinical and on-demand biosensing, leading to frequent and even continuous monitoring of sweat bioanalytes. Beyond the task of frequent analyte monitoring, the technology holds the potential to improve the disease prognosis and prevention methodologies.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.