I-Corps: Translation Potential of Real-time, Ultrasensitive Electrical Transduction of Biological Binding Events for Pathogen and Disease Detection

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发基于外延石墨烯的诊断和筛查设备，以解决目前缺乏快速，选择性和敏感的病原体筛查工具的问题，如严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2），这是遏制这种和未来流行病所必需的。也缺乏可以帮助减轻病原体传播的即时检测技术，最好是在一个人变得具有传染性之前。我们的生物传感器的潜在优势是它是可重复使用的，与现有的商业产品和最近文献中发现的技术相比，具有更高的速度和灵敏度。它还可以检测人体呼吸中的病原体，从而实现传统技术无法实现的快速、非侵入性筛查。将该技术应用于病原体检测，其中快速部署和即时结果对于大流行缓解至关重要，地方性病原体，其中爆发可能威胁人口中的弱势成员，以及由于癌症和细菌等循环生物标志物很少而难以检测的病原体和疾病。总的来说，这些生物传感器在非侵入性医学筛查中的广泛适用性有可能对人类健康和公共安全产生重大影响。这个I-Corps项目利用经验学习加上对行业生态系统的第一手调查来评估拟议技术的转化潜力。它是基于快速，选择性和超灵敏度的基于电的筛选和诊断工具的先前开发，用于检测病毒和细菌，而不需要样品制备，昂贵的实验室设备或专业人员。这种创新方法的重点是利用碳化硅（SiC）上的准独立外延石墨烯（QEG）的特性，结合固定的生物标志物，实现病原体检测。该设备旨在克服当前诊断技术的局限性，特别是在速度，选择性，灵敏度和成本效益方面，通过QEG独特的新型极化诱导应变机制。该平台能够实现抗体/抗原系统和蛋白酶/肽的转导，从而实现病原体和疾病的超灵敏和快速筛查。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of epitaxial graphene based diagnostic and screening devices to address the current lack of rapid, selective, and sensitive screening tools for pathogens, like severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), necessary to contain this and future pandemics. There is also a lack of point-of-care detection technologies that could help mitigate the spread of pathogens, ideally before a person becomes infectious. The potential advantage of our biosensor is it is reusable, with greater speed and sensitivity compared to existing commercial products and also technology found in recent literature. It can also detect pathogens in human breath, enabling rapid, non-invasive screening not possible by conventional technology. Applying this technology to pathogen detection, where rapid deployment and immediate results are critical to pandemic mitigation, endemic pathogens, where outbreaks can threaten vulnerable members of the population, and pathogens and ailments where detection is difficult due to few circulating biomarkers such as cancer and bacteria. Overall, the broad applicability of these biosensors in non-invasive medical screening has the potential to significantly impact human health and public safety.This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of the proposed technology. It is based on the prior development of rapid, selective, and ultrasensitive electrical-based screening and diagnostic tools for detecting viruses and bacteria without the need for sample preparation, expensive laboratory equipment, or specialized personnel. This innovative approach focuses on harnessing the properties of quasi-freestanding epitaxial graphene (QEG) on silicon carbide (SiC) in conjunction with immobilized biomarkers, enabling pathogen detection. This device aims to overcome the limitations of current diagnostic technologies, particularly in terms of speed, selectivity, sensitivity, and cost-effectiveness, through a novel polarization-induced strain mechanism unique to QEG. This platform enables the transduction of antibody/antigen systems and protease/peptide, enabling ultrasensitive and rapid screening of pathogens and diseases.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.