SBIR Phase I: Compact NMR for Dilute Pathogen Detection

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目开发了紧凑型核磁共振设备，用于快速检测稀释细胞和病原体，以取代血液培养，在降低成本的同时提高了检测速度和灵敏度。它们将加强医疗保健，并解决医院中日益严重的败血症危机。该设备是基于技术的组合-微线圈核磁共振和磁性纳米颗粒的生化标记。这项研究将扩展这项技术的性能界限，从而产生一种检测极稀的、免疫磁性标记的病原体的探测器。这项研究的广泛影响是基于早期检测稀释浓度的病原体和其他细胞的重要性，这将允许更及时地诊断疾病，从而提高医疗保健结果。早期检测也降低了成本，因为患者恢复得更快，需要的干预也更少。血液培养是诊断实验室的主要工作，因此需要一种能够大大提高其性能的设备。败血症是一个日益严重的公共卫生问题，具有重大后果，因此采用新工具检测和治疗这种疾病的动机很强。这里提出的NMR设备在灵敏度、速度、尺寸和成本方面实现了增强的性能，这将允许未来的新用途，包括在初级保健环境和现场。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project develops compact NMR devices for rapid detection of dilute cells and pathogens to replace blood culture, providing improvements in detection speed and sensitivity while decreasing cost. They will enhance medical care and address the growing crisis of sepsis in hospitals. The devices are based on a combination of technologies - microcoil NMR and biochemical labeling by magnetic nanoparticles. The research will extend the performance boundaries of this technology, resulting in a detector for extremely dilute, immuno-magnetically labeled, pathogens. The broader impacts of this research are based on the importance of early detection of dilute concentration of pathogens and other cells that would permit more timely diagnosis of diseases, thereby enhancing healthcare outcomes. Early detection also reduces costs, as patients recover faster and require less intervention. Blood culture is a workhorse of the diagnostic lab, so there is a demand for a device that substantially improves its performance. Sepsis is a growing public health problem with significant consequences, so the motivation to adopt new tools for the detection and treatment of this condition is strong. The NMR device proposed here achieves enhanced performance in sensitivity, speed, size, and cost that will permit new uses in the future, including in the primary care setting and in the field.