I-Corps: Rapid field detection of crop pathogens using portable reflective interferometry

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种便携式检测器，用于田间水果作物的病原体检测。农业检测市场每年超过200亿美元，对于目前方法不实用的小公司来说，潜力更大。在田间立即取得效果是很重要的，因为病害可以在几天内传遍果园，毁掉整个作物。所提议的架构可能适用于食品安全应用以及动物和人类疾病检测的护理点诊断传感器。这个I-Corps项目是基于一个光学平台的开发，该平台设计用于在少量材料附着在其表面时产生大的反射率变化。该系统使用坚固且方便的衬底，硅和一个简单的发光二极管来实现平台。附着抗体选择性地将感兴趣的特定病原体结合到底物上，使抗体即使在固定在表面时也能识别适当的靶抗原。灵敏的检测是通过一个过程来实现的，这个过程可以阻止不需要的分子粘附在表面。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a portable detector for pathogen testing of fruit crops in the field. The market for agricultural testing is over $20 billion per year, with greater potential for smaller firms for whom the current methods are impractical. Getting immediate results in the field is important since disease can spread through orchards in days and ruin entire crops. The proposed architecture may be applicable to point-of-care diagnostic sensors for food safety applications and for animal and human disease detection. This I-Corps project is based on the development of an optical platform that is designed to produce large changes in reflectivity when small amounts of material adhere to its surface. The system uses a robust and convenient substrate, silicon, and a simple light-emitting diode, to implement the platform. Attached antibodies selectively bind specific pathogens of interest to the substrate in a way enabling the antibodies to recognize the appropriate target antigen even when immobilized on the surface. Sensitive detection is achieved through a process that discourages unwanted molecules from sticking to the surface.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.