Development of a lab-on-a-chip for point-of-care biomonitoring of blood metals

描述(申请人提供)：这项申请寻求通过开发一种传感器来改变当前的血液金属分析范式，该传感器将提供对易感人群的血液金属的快速和准确的护理测量。儿童、低水平、混合暴露于铅、锰和镉的生物标志物是必不可少的。显然需要改进技术，以定量评估和确定这些暴露的不利后果。目前的方法存在成本高的问题，包括大量的劳动力、设备和耗时的实验室程序，而且往往需要很长的周转时间。该项目通过开发一种新的传感器技术来同时快速测量全血中的重金属，从而满足了这一需求。我们的方法是将阳极溶出伏安法与我们在芯片实验室和微流体方面的深厚专业知识相结合。我们由工程师、化学家和临床/环境健康专家组成的多学科团队已经迈出了开发这种设备的第一步，并通过试点测试证明了传感器的可行性。我们现在准备全面开发用于护理点应用的传感器系统。该项目将是第一个 开发一种环保型芯片实验室传感器，用于定点多金属分析，将在国内和国际研究和临床环境中为易感人群提供实时金属分析。与我们的商业化合作伙伴的合作将 将多金属传感器定位为在临床和研究环境中广泛使用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks to transform the current paradigm for blood metal analysis through the development of a sensor that will provide rapid and accurate point-of-care measurement of blood metals in susceptible pediatric populations. Biomarkers of pediatric, low-level, mixed exposures to lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), and cadmium (Cd) are essential. There is a clear need for improved technology to quantitatively assess and identify adverse consequences of these exposures. Current approaches suffer from high costs including extensive labor, equipment and time-consuming laboratory procedures, and often demonstrate long turnaround times. This project addresses this need by developing a novel sensor technology for simultaneous and swift measurement of heavy metals in whole blood. Our approach is to integrate anodic stripping voltammetry with our deep expertise in lab-on-a-chip and microfluidics. Our multidisciplinary team of engineers, chemists, and clinical/environmental health experts has already taken the first steps towards developing such a device and has demonstrated feasibility of the sensor through pilot tests. We are now poised to fully develop the sensor system for point-of-care application. This project will be the first to develop an environmentally-friendly lab-on- a-chip sensor for point-of-care multi-metal analysis, which will provide real-time analysis of metals for susceptible populations, in national and international research and clinical settings. Collaboration with our commercialization partner will position the multi-metal sensor for wide-spread use in clinical and research settings.