Compact Chemical Sensor for Measurement of Internal Dose of Environmental Agents

描述（由申请人提供）：通过测量这些物质或其化学或生物代谢物的内部剂量来检测对环境物质的暴露，需要快速评估和识别已知和未知威胁的暴露。快速检测和识别暴露于此类威胁的情况，可以及时警告暴露的程度和严重程度，并通过启用和采取保护措施挽救许多生命。理想的检测设备是体积小、携带方便、使用方便、能够在现场进行快速分析的设备。毒物水平应易于从方便的生物样本（血液、尿液等）中获得，以便快速确定制剂的内部剂量，并尽量减少假阳性和假阴性，以避免浪费资源和遗漏实际暴露问题。我们建议建立一种便携式、可现场部署的血液检测监测器，以立即识别疑似接触过有毒化学物质的人体内的有毒化学物质积累。我们计划利用的技术是表面增强拉曼散射，基于一种众所周知的非弹性激光散射分析技术，用于精确的实验室鉴定有机化合物，以寻找血液中（或者可能在尿液或唾液样本中）痕量污染物的环境因子的存在。所提出的系统由一个低分辨率拉曼检测单元和一个条带读取器组成，该条带读取器分析放置在金溶胶-凝胶条带上的一滴血。低分辨率表面增强拉曼光谱（SERS）从血液滴落在测试条上获得，与光谱峰库在分析存在于患者血液中的特定化学成分的存在和浓度的单位进行比较。总的来说，该装置的操作方式与商用手持式血糖仪和其他用于个人血液分析的家用测试试剂盒非常相似，众所周知，家用诊断患者血糖水平，但现在可以在单个设备中分析一系列血液分析。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Detection of exposure to environmental agents by measurement of internal dose of such agents or their metabolites, chemical or biological, requires rapid assessment and identification of exposure to both known and unknown threats. Fast detection and identification of exposure to such threats can provide prompt warning of the extent and severity of the exposure and save many lives by enabling and adopting protective measures. The ideal detection device is one that is small, portable, easy to use and capable of rapid analysis in the field. The levels of toxicants should be easily obtained from a convenient biosample (blood, urine, etc) for rapid determination of the internal dose of the agent, with a minimum of false positives and false negatives to avoid wasting resources and missing actual exposure problems. We propose to build a portable, field- deployable blood test monitor to immediately identify toxic chemical agent buildup in persons suspected of having been exposed to such agents. The technology we plan to utilize is surface-enhanced Raman scattering, based on a well-known inelastic laser light scattering analytical technique for precise lab identification of organic compounds to look for the presence of environmental agents directly as trace contaminants in the bloodstream (or, potentially, in urine or saliva samples, as well). The proposed system is comprised of a low- resolution Raman detection unit coupled to a strip reader that analyzes a drop of blood placed on a gold sol-gel strip. The low-resolution surface-enhanced Raman spectrum (SERS) obtained from the blood drop on the strip is compared with a spectral peak library in the unit for analysis of the presence and concentration of specific chemical components present in the patient's blood. In overview, the unit operates much like a commercial handheld glucose meter and other at-home test kits for individual blood analytes, well known for home diagnosis of patient glucose levels, but now set up for analysis of a range of blood analytes in a single device. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Company believes significant markets exist for portable, field-deployable products for on-site blood analysis based on the designs created and tested in the present SBIR program. As a practical example, the Company anticipates that persons taking prescription medications that require regular monitoring for effective dose level may benefit from the present Raman approach. In this application, the drug or its metabolite might be monitored in a blood sample by SERS at regular intervals at home for compliance and adjustment of the medication, as required.