SBIR Phase I: Rapid Detection of Whole Pathogens with Microchannel Resonators

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将测试一种新的整个致病生物检测器的可行性，这种检测器足够灵敏，可以检测单个炭疽孢子，比聚合酶链反应（PCR）更快，并且与基于生物分子亲和力的现有检测方法一样特异性。该探测器是悬浮微通道谐振器（SMR），这是一种最近开发的基于mems的传感器，可以以前所未有的精度测量流体中的质量。该项目将制造SMR传感器，该传感器已被修改，可以接受整个病原体到微米大小的孢子，并使用抗体和肽受体使其功能化。探测器的灵敏度、特异性和通量将在炭疽和M13噬菌体上进行测试。研究结果将有助于确定SMR的性能是否最终能超越目前在生物战剂或传染病检测方面的水平。这种产品可能有助于满足对生物恐怖制剂快速检测和临床加速诊断的巨大需求。对于武器化的炭疽，可能在几分钟内从洗脱的鼻拭子和其他低孢子数量的来源中识别出特定的孢子。通过在几分钟或几小时内提供可操作的信息，SMR将有助于填补目前当地炭疽接触筛查与目前需要数天的确认检测之间的空白。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase 1 project will test the feasibility of a new detector of whole pathogenic organisms that is sensitive enough to detect a single anthrax spore, more rapid than polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and as specific as established assays based on biomolecular affinity. The detector is the suspended microchannel resonator (SMR), a recently developed MEMs-based sensor that measures mass in fluid with unprecedented precision. This project will fabricate SMR sensors that have been modified to accept whole pathogens up to micron-sized spores, and functionalize them using antibody and peptide receptors. The detectors sensitivity, specificity, and throughput will be tested on anthrax and M13 bacteriophages. The results will help determine whether the SMR performance may ultimately surpass the current state of theart for detection of biowarfare agents or infectious disease.Such a product may help satisfy the great need for rapid detection of bioterrorism agents and accelerated diagnosis in clinical settings. For the case of weaponized anthrax, it may be possible to identify specific spores in minutes, from eluted nasal swabs and other sources with low spore count. By providing actionable information in minutes or hours, the SMR would help fill the current gap between local screening of anthrax exposure, and confirmatory testing which currently takes days.