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流体，对人体内发生的生理过程具有宝贵的见解。目前的生物流体测试方法，无论是在汗液、血液还是间质液中，其特征在于其耗时、侵入性和昂贵的性质，使得它们对于普通人群的常规使用是不切实际的。与指导个人到医院或诊所进行连续生物流体监测相关的挑战阻碍了全面检测数据库的建立及其与行为模式的相关性。一个值得注意的例子是人体体液中存在皮质醇，这是一种与压力、中风、库欣综合征和阿狄森氏病等疾病相关的生物标志物。尽管其重要性，但现有技术无法实现对汗液或其他生物流体中皮质醇的定期间歇监测，特别是在非临床的按需设置中。因此，迫切需要开发一种新的模式，其允许对汗液的化学组成进行表面和用户友好的监测，从而促进普通个人的日常使用。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举措的组成部分。此外，领导努力创造和带头计划，准备在生物医学工程本科生的研究生院有助于扩大参与该领域的目标。此外，传播教育录像是提高认识和培养对这一跨学科领域的兴趣的一种积极主动的办法。这些努力共同有助于弥合先进技术研究与更广泛社区之间的差距，使该主题可访问并吸引不同的受众。 研究人员建议利用石墨烯纹身技术，通过直接通过皮肤用适体和晶体管偏压进一步使其功能化。通过这种方式，该团队将创造出注入适体的体门控石墨烯纹身晶体管技术-一种监测健康的新方法。这种汗液生物传感晶体管纹身将通过独特的皮肤门控效应通过身体偏置。概念验证设备将被设计为针对皮质醇，这是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，从而频繁甚至连续监测汗液生物分析物。该奖项反映了NSF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.