Next Generation Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Acute Aortic Dissection (AAD)

急性主动脉夹层(AAD)是一种潜在的致命疾病，通常影响年轻人，在英国每年的发病率为每10万人中有3-4人1。由于AAD的主要症状是急性胸痛和上背部疼痛，因此很难诊断，因为它经常与心脏病发作等其他心血管疾病相混淆。如果不及早发现和干预，AAD患者的预后是黯淡的，如果没有诊断，死亡率每小时增加1-2%。AAD的诊断通常结合了多种成像技术，如计算机断层扫描(CT)、磁共振血管成像(MRA)或经食道超声心动图(TOE)4，但在一些紧急护理机构中并不总是可用的。由于AAD死亡迅速发生，一种简单易用的诊断测试可以在紧急情况下更快、更准确地诊断，这将使患者能够获得快速、挽救生命的医疗护理。侧向流动试验(LFT)是一种基于膜的诊断程序，它使用方便、价格低廉、坚固耐用且可广泛使用。它们最常用于怀孕测试、环境监测和传染病监测。然而，它们的实用性和多功能性直到最近才变得明显。在新冠肺炎大流行期间，快速开发了低频傅立叶变换技术来识别病毒，导致了全球范围的测试，使监测和诊断能够在社区和家庭环境的医疗机构之外进行。尽管LFTs有各种优势，但由于缺乏敏感性和选择性，LFTs作为诊断平台经常被忽视。然而，这些问题可以通过仔细设计LFTS膜材料、测试中使用的生物分子和纳米颗粒标签来解决。该项目的目标是创造能够同时检测大量AAD生物标志物的下一代LFTs。通过研究LFTs中的膜材料和纳米颗粒标签，新的制造技术来生产具有最佳特性的新膜，并将这些优化的LFTs用于检测指示AAD的特定生物标志物，它为定制材料特性和表面化学以提高LFTs的灵敏度和选择性铺平了道路，并具有一系列商业上可用的和新颖的应用。参考文献：1.Thumurthy SG，Karthikealingam A，Patterson BO，Holt PJe，Thompson MM。主动脉夹层的诊断和治疗。英国医学杂志。2011年1月11日；344(1月11日)：d8290-d8290。2.压边力。主动脉瘤、夹层和破裂。2022年3.Ranasinghe AM，Strong D，Boland B，Bonser RS。急性主动脉夹层。英国医学杂志。2011年7月29日；343(7月29日2)：d4487-d4487。4.Olin JW，Fuster V.急性主动脉夹层。动脉血栓形成血管生物。2003年10月；23(10)：1721-3。5.Marino E，Threlfall WR，Schwarze RA。母马妊娠早期受孕因素侧向流动分析。热原学。2009年4月；71(6)：877-83。6.王超，王超，王旭，王凯，朱勇，荣志，等。用于敏感和同时检测呼吸道病毒的SERS磁条。ACS应用程序材质界面。2019年5月29日；11(21)：19495-505.

Acute aortic dissection (AAD) is a potentially fatal illness that often affects young individuals, with an annual incidence of 3-4 per 100,000 in the United Kingdom1. Because the predominant symptom of AAD is acute chest and upper back pain, it is difficult to diagnose because it is frequently confused with other cardiovascular disorders such as heart attack2. Without early detection and intervention, the prognosis for AAD patients is bleak, with mortality increasing by 1-2% every hour undiagnosed3. AAD is typically diagnosed with a combination of imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), or transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) 4, but these are not always available in some urgent care facilities. Due to the rapid occurrence of AAD fatalities, an easy-to-use diagnostic test that allows for a faster and more accurate diagnosis in an emergency environment will allow patients to obtain fast, life-saving medical care. Lateral flow tests (LFTs) are membrane-based diagnostic procedures that are easy to use, inexpensive, robust, and widely available. They are most commonly employed for pregnancy testing5, environmental monitoring, and infectious disease monitoring6. However, their usefulness and versatility have only recently become apparent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, LFT technology was quickly developed to identify the virus, leading to global scale testing, allowing monitoring and diagnosis to occur outside of healthcare facilities in community and home settings. Despite their various advantages, LFTs are frequently disregarded as a diagnostic platform due to their lack of sensitivity and selectivity. These issues, however, can be resolved with careful design of the LFTS membrane materials, biological molecules used in the test, and the nanoparticle label.The objective of the project is to create the next generation of LFTs capable of detecting numerous AAD biomarkers at the same time. By investigating membrane materials and nanoparticle labels in LFTs, novel fabrication techniques to produce new membranes with optimum characteristics and applying these optimised LFTS for the detection of specific biomarkers indicative of AAD, it paves the way to tailor material properties and surface chemistry to improve sensitivity and selectivity in LFTs with a range of applications, both commercially available and novel. References:1. Thrumurthy SG, Karthikesalingam A, Patterson BO, Holt PJE, Thompson MM. The diagnosis and management of aortic dissection. BMJ. 2011 Jan 11;344(jan11 1):d8290-d8290. 2. BHF. Aortic Aneurysm, Dissection and Rupture. 2022. 3. Ranasinghe AM, Strong D, Boland B, Bonser RS. Acute aortic dissection. BMJ. 2011 Jul 29;343(jul29 2):d4487-d4487. 4. Olin JW, Fuster V. Acute Aortic Dissection. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2003 Oct;23(10):1721-3. 5. Marino E, Threlfall WR, Schwarze RA. Early conception factor lateral flow assays for pregnancy in the mare. Theriogenology. 2009 Apr;71(6):877-83. 6. Wang C, Wang C, Wang X, Wang K, Zhu Y, Rong Z, et al. Magnetic SERS Strip for Sensitive and Simultaneous Detection of Respiratory Viruses. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2019 May 29;11(21):19495-505.