Microsensor Arrays for Saliva Diagnostics

描述(申请人提供)：本申请中描述的工作旨在制备具有成像光纤的光学传感器，以创建可用于高通量和高含量唾液分析的平台。本申请描述了旨在确定特定和非特定多分析物传感器阵列是否可用于区分各种疾病表型的实验。对于一些疾病，也许是大多数疾病，不太可能存在一种特定的化合物来表示疾病的存在。相反，这种疾病很可能表现为一种化合物模式，包括可能处于不同水平的共同代谢物或不寻常的代谢物，所有这些都是在复杂和不稳定的背景下发生的。本工作的目的是探索传感器阵列可以被设计成在不同的背景(例如，不同的患者、不同的继发性疾病、不同的药物方案)中识别这些代谢模式的可能性。该应用程序的主要目标是开发测试方案，并准备具有足够多样性和灵敏度的传感器来进行此类测量。这项应用侧重于使用唾液作为诊断工具的第一次开发，以使用微阵列传感系统诊断口腔和全身疾病状态。因此，有必要对在各种条件下获得的响应模式进行评估。这种条件必须考虑到唾液分泌物和整个唾液的独特生理参数以及不同微传感器技术和方法的应用。这些阵列将被集成到一个样品制备和读出系统中，能够一次处理96-1536个样品。检测所需的样品体积小，最大限度地减少了样品准备时间，并减少了试剂存储和处理要求。在任何系统的高采样数和处理/读出时间方面，集成系统都应该具有最高的吞吐量。本申请描述了一项长期工作的初步工作，该工作旨在开发一种使用唾液进行诊断的新方法。总体目标是开发对唾液样本进行测量的新工具和通用平台。许多最初的工作将针对筛选潜在有用的传感化学物质，因为它们适用于唾液中的传感成分。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The work described in this application is aimed at preparing optical sensors with imaging fibers for creating platforms that can be used for high throughput and high content saliva analysis. This application describes experiments aimed at ascertaining whether both specific and non-specific multi-analyte sensor arrays can be used for distinguishing various disease phenotypes. With some, and perhaps most, diseases, it is unlikely that there is a specific compound present that signals the presence of disease. Instead, it is likely that the disease is manifested by a pattern of compounds including both common metabolites possibly at altered levels, or unusual metabolites, all in the context of a complex and non-constant background. It is the intention of the present work to explore the possibility that sensor arrays can be designed to recognize these metabolic patterns in changing backgrounds (e.g. different patients, different secondary diseases, different drug regimens). The major goals of the application are to develop testing protocols, and to prepare sensors with sufficient diversity and sensitivity to make such measurements. This application focuses on the first developments to use saliva as a diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of oral and systemic disease states using micro-array sensing systems. Consequently, it is imperative to evaluate the response pattern obtained under a variety of conditions. Such conditions must take into account both the unique physiological parameters of salivary secretions and whole saliva as well as the application of different micro-sensor technologies and methods. The arrays will be integrated into a sample preparation and readout system with the ability to process 96-1536 samples at a time. The small size of the samples required for detection minimizes sample preparation time and reduces reagent storage and handling requirements. The integrated system should have the highest throughput in terms of both high sample numbers and processing/readout time of any system. This application describes initial work in a long-term effort to develop a new approach to using saliva for diagnostic purposes. The overall goal is to develop both new tools and a universal platform for performing measurements on saliva samples. Much of the initial work will be directed at screening potentially useful sensing chemistries for their applicability to sensing components in saliva.