Development of cost-effective label-free protein biosensors using magnetic bio-inks

加拿大日益老龄化的人口面临着各种自身免疫性疾病缺乏及时诊断的问题，周转时间从几天到几周不等，导致医疗费用上升，对经济和社会产生不利影响。传统的疾病检测方法一次只能检测一个人。我们的行业合作伙伴SQI Diagnostics（SQID）开发了能够同时执行多项测试的自动化多路检测。这样的系统对于大容量高通量测试设施是理想的，但是对于本地测试设施或护理点/测试设备，这些系统仍然是不经济的。我们最近展示了一种新型的具有成本效益，可靠和灵敏的化学电阻生物传感器的工作原理，该传感器能够在一分钟内快速检测生物标志物。我们建议开发一种基于磁性生物墨水的多路生物传感平台，可用于医院，参考实验室和其他类似的医疗机构。这将通过（1）开发磁性生物油墨，（2）评估用这些油墨印刷的生物传感器的性能，（3）将它们的性能与标准测试进行比较，以及（4）开发生物传感器的多路复用能力来实现。接下来，我们将扩大诊断传感条的印刷规模，并将其集成到可用于开发适销产品的设备中。SQID将授权并商业化该技术，将研究转化为护理点/测试设备。拟议工作的结果有望通过创造约30个就业机会和改善医疗保健行业的全球存在，为加拿大带来重大的商业利益。该项目还将促进对化学电阻生物传感器的科学理解。

Canada's increasing aging population is confronted by a lack of timely diagnosis for various autoimmunediseases with turnaround times varying from a few days to weeks, leading to rising healthcare costs withunfavorable economic and societal implications. Traditional methods for disease detection rely on a single testat a time. Our industry partner, SQI Diagnostics (SQID) develops automated multiplexed assays capable ofperforming multiple tests at the same time. Such systems are ideal for high volume high throughput testingfacilities, but these are yet uneconomical for local testing facilities or point of care/testing devices. We recentlydemonstrated the working principle of a novel cost-effective, reliable and sensitive chemiresistive biosensorthat is capable of rapidly detecting biomarkers within a minute. We propose to develop a multiplexedbiosensing platform based on magnetic bio-inks that could be used in hospitals, reference labs and other similarhealthcare institutions. This will be achieved by (1) developing magnetic bio-inks, (2) evaluating theperformance biosensors printed with these inks, (3) comparing their performance with standard tests, and (4)developing multiplexing capabilities for the biosensor. We will follow this by scaling up the printing ofdiagnostic sensing strips and integrating them into devices that can be used to develop marketable products.SQID will license and commercialize the technology, translating the research into a point of care/testingdevices. The outcome of the proposed work promises significant commercial benefits to Canada through thecreation of ~30 jobs and improved global presence in the healthcare industry. The project will also advancescientific understanding of chemiresistive biosensors.