STTR Phase II: Polyaniline Nanofiber Urinary Tract Infection Biosensor-A Multi-Functional Bioresponsive Material

这个小型企业技术转移研究(STTR)第二阶段项目是为了开发一种廉价、快速、高精度的检测方法，用于检测和识别引起尿路感染(UTIs)的病原体。目前，尿路感染的诊断是一个昂贵而漫长的过程，往往会导致患者服用不必要的或无效的抗生素。这种病原体检测系统利用高度分散的聚苯胺纳米纤维与尿液中的标志物结合，随着纳米纤维聚集体的出现而在溶液中产生明显的变化。该测试的版本将针对尿路感染检测、白细胞检测和病原体识别进行优化。用于检测不同细菌标志物的纳米纤维阵列将用于病原体鉴定的演示。这项研究的更广泛影响是增加了病原体鉴定的准确测试的机会，降低了医疗成本和减少了抗生素耐药性。这种检测的低成本和易用性将使患者能够迅速得到诊断，然后使用针对物种的药物而不是广泛的抗生素覆盖范围进行适当的治疗。这将对减缓抗生素耐药性的上升产生很大影响。这项测试还具有在其他目标检测应用中的未来发展潜力，例如食物/水测试和脑膜炎。研究人员也可能从这一发展中受益，作为一种更昂贵、更慢的鉴定病原体的方法，如培养。与这种标志物检测方法相关的总体成本降低也可能增加第三世界国家低收入人口和患者获得更好的感染诊断和治疗的机会。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase II project is for the development of an inexpensive, rapid, high-accuracy test for the detection and identification of the pathogens that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs). Currently, UTI diagnosis is an expensive and lengthy process that often results in patients given unnecessary or ineffective antibiotics. This pathogen detection system utilizes highly dispersible polyaniline nanofibers that bind to markers in urine to generate a visible change in solution with the appearance of nanofiber aggregates. Versions of this test will be optimized for UTI detection, leukocyte detection and pathogen identification. An array of nanofibers functionalized for detection of different bacterial markers will be used for demonstration of pathogen identification. The broader impacts of this research are increased access to accurate tests for pathogen identification, healthcare cost reduction and reduction of antibiotic resistance. The low cost and ease of this test will allow patients to get diagnosed expeditiously, and then treated properly using species-directed medication rather than broad antibiotic coverage. This will have a great impact on decelerating the rise of antibiotic resistance. This test also has potential with future development in other target detection applications such as food/water testing and meningitis. Researchers may also benefit from this development as an alternative to more expensive and slower routes for identification of pathogens like culture. The overall cost reduction associated with this method of marker detection may also increase access to better infection diagnosis and treatment to lower income populations and patients in third world countries.