Minimally Invasive Molecularly Imprinted Conductive Nanoneedle Sensors

近年来，快速诊断技术的发展取得了重大进展，特别是败血症，因为患者需要在一个关键的时间窗口内得到诊断和治疗。脓毒症被定义为由宿主对感染反应失调引起的危及生命的器官功能障碍。病人的免疫系统开始过度运转，引发一系列反应，包括广泛的炎症。败血症是感染导致死亡的主要原因，特别是如果不及时诊断和治疗。目前仍缺乏快速、准确和简单的败血症检测方法。诊断是所有医疗保健的重要组成部分，败血症也不例外，尽管临床实验室提供敏感、特异性的检测，如血培养和高通量免疫检测，但这些检测通常需要耗费大量时间和人力，成本高昂，并且依赖训练有素的操作人员。另一方面，即时诊断可以在现场提供快速结果，从而实现知情治疗；然而，这些技术仍在发展中。因此，例如，用于疑似细菌感染的抗生素可以在没有阳性诊断的情况下开处方（增加了抗菌素耐药性的潜在风险），或者在真正需要时根本不开处方（即当败血症未得到诊断时）。mimic纳米传感器将超越目前最先进的技术，通过开发具有密集纳米针阵列的微创传感器，通过合成分子印迹导电聚合物开发“合成抗体”，可以隔离和检测间质液中的目标生物标志物。mimic纳米传感器将准确、快速地检测败血症炎症特异性生物标志物，最终实现优化诊断和治疗。将这一需求带到护理点可能会改变未来诊断和治疗抗微生物感染患者的方式。

There has been a significant drive in recent years for the development of rapid diagnostics, specifically for sepsis, as there is a crucial time window in which patients need to be diagnosed and treated. Sepsis is defined as a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. The patient's immune system goes into overdrive setting off a series of reactions including widespread inflammation. Sepsis is the leading cause of death from infection, especially if not diagnosed and treated promptly. Rapid, accurate and simple tests are still lacking for sepsis. Diagnosis is an essential part of all healthcare, and sepsis is no exception, and although clinical laboratories offer sensitive, specific assays, such as blood culture and high-throughput immunoassays, they are often time and labour intensive, costly, and dependent on well-trained operators. Point-of-care diagnostics on the other hand, can offer rapid results at site, enabling informed treatments; however, these technologies are still in development. Consequently, for example, antibiotics for suspected bacterial infections can be prescribed without positive diagnosis (increasing the potential risk of antimicrobial resistance), or not prescribed at all when they are really needed (i.e. when sepsis goes undiagnosed). The MIMIC-nano sensors will move beyond the current state-of-the-art by developing minimally invasive sensors with dense arrays of nanoneedles that can sequester and detect targeted biomarkers from interstitial fluid through the development of 'synthetic antibodies' by synthesising molecularly imprinted conductive polymers. The MIMIC-nano sensors will accurately and quickly detect biomarkers specific to inflammation from sepsis, ultimately resulting in optimised diagnosis and treatments. Bringing this need to point-of-care could transform the way patients are diagnosed and treated for antimicrobial infections in the future.