I-Corps: Cortisense - A point of care sensor for measurement of stress

目前，压力相关的疾病，如创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）被诊断和临床监测。迫切需要一种能够为诊断和治疗效果提供定量相关性的诊断辅助工具。该团队开发了一种技术，通过测量体液中的皮质醇水平，可以促进对皮质醇的即时监测。皮质醇是关键的压力生物标志物。这项被提议的技术有望提高军人创伤后应激障碍患者的医疗水平。它也有可能进入其他细分市场，比如农场工人和消防员，他们也可能受益于基于唾液中皮质醇浓度的近实时测量的压力诱导疾病的替代治疗。提出的皮质醇传感技术是一种变革性技术，可以使用纳米工程生物芯片和手持测量单元非侵入性地监测压力水平。这种纳米工程生物芯片成本低，而且是一次性的。拟议的技术将使观察到的医疗状况的定量关联成为可能，并通过监测患者在医生护理期间的应激激素皮质醇，帮助提高治疗效果。这种便携式传感器可以精确测量皮质醇水平，这是30分钟内压力的已知指标。这种传感器的准确性将导致一种新的测试，它将为难以诊断的疾病（如创伤后应激障碍）提供定量信息，同时大大缩短诊断时间。

Currently, stress-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are diagnosed and monitored clinically. A diagnostic aid that can provide a quantitative correlation for both diagnosis and efficacy of treatment is sorely needed. This team has developed a technology that will facilitate point-of-care monitoring of cortisol, the key stress biomarker, by measuring its levels in body fluids. The proposed technology promises to advance the level of health care for military patients with PTSD. It also has the potential to reach other market segments, such as farm workers and fire fighters, who might also benefit from alternative treatments to stress-induced conditions based on the near real-time measurement of cortisol concentrations in saliva.The proposed cortisol sensing technology is a transformative technology that enables monitoring of stress levels non-invasively using a nanoengineered biochip and a handheld measurement unit. The nanoengineered biochip is both low cost and disposable. The proposed technology will enable quantitative correlations to observed medical conditions and help improve the efficacy of treatment through monitoring of the stress hormone cortisol as the patient continues to be in the care of the doctors. This portable sensor accurately measures cortisol levels, a known indicator of stress in 30 minutes. The accuracy of the sensor would lead to a new class of tests that would provide quantitative information for difficult to diagnose diseases like PTSD, while significantly reducing the time to diagnosis.