Researchers detect tiny levels of disease with biochip enhanced by nanotechnology

The difficulty in detecting minute amounts of circulating disease in the blood has proven to be an obstacle for screening and treating cancers that are evolving sneakily with few symptoms. With a new electrochemical biosensor device that identifies the smallest signals these biomarkers emit, two NJIT inventors hope to close this gap.

Their work in detecting diseases illustrates the power of electrical detection – and the growing role of engineers – in medical research.

"Ideally, it would require a simple and inexpensive test – performed during a regular patient visit in the absence of specific symptoms – to screen out some of the most silent and deadly cancers," says Bharath Babu Nunna, a recent doctorate. Graduate who worked with Eon Soo Lee, an badistant professor in mechanical engineering, at the development of an improved nanotechnology biochip to detect cancers, malaria and viral diseases such as pneumonia very early in their progression with a blood test to the sting.

Their device includes a microfluidic channel through which a small amount of collected blood pbades in front of a detection platform coated with biological agents that binds to targeted biomarkers of the disease in body fluids such as blood, tears and urine, thereby triggering an electrical nanocircuit signaling their presence. .

In recent research published in Nano CovergenceNunna and her co-authors have demonstrated the use of gold nanoparticles to improve the sensor signal response of their device in cancer detection, among other results.

One of the key innovations of the device is the ability to separate blood plasma from whole blood in its microfluidic channels. The blood plasma contains the biomarkers of the disease and it is therefore necessary to separate them to improve the "signal-to-noise ratio" in order to perform a high precision test. The autonomous device badyzes a blood sample in less than two minutes without resorting to external equipment.

"Our approach detects biomolecules of targeted diseases at femto concentration, lower than nano and even pico, which amounts to looking for a planet in a cluster of galaxies.The current detection technology is limited to concentrations a thousand times larger. Nanometric platform allows us to identify these lower levels of disease, "Nunna said, adding," And by separating the plasma from the blood, we are able to focus the biomarkers of the disease. "

In another recent article in bionanoscienceNunna, Lee and their co-authors detailed their findings on sensitivity variations based on microfluidic flow.

Nunna is now a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School, where he is expanding his expertise in microfluidic platforms, using them as part of organ-based flea research with Su Ryon Shin, principal investigator and instructor in the department. of Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine. Medicine that develops 3-D-bio-printed organoids – artificial organs composed of cells in culture within structured hydrogels – for the purpose of medical experimentation.

"I am primarily responsible for the development of microfluidic devices that will automate the process of 3D organ bio-printing that will be incorporated on a chip for various purposes.For example, I am responsible for developing an automated platform for efficiency badysis. and the long-term toxicity of drugs to detect liver cancer and cardiac biomarkers, I will integrate the microfluidic biosensor into the liver cancer model and the heart-on-chip for ongoing surveillance, "he said.

By measuring the concentrations of biomarkers secreted by bioprocessed 3D injected organs, we can study the effects of drugs on several organs without harming a living patient. The creation of artificial organs allows us to experiment freely. "

Later, he adds, the work at Harvard could potentially be applied to regenerative medicine. "The goal is to develop fully functional, fully bio-functional 3D organoids and clinically relevant 3D tissues to solve the problem of donor shortage in transplantation."

Nunna says her research at Harvard Medical School will expand her knowledge of programmable microfluidics and precise electrochemical detection techniques, which will help her advance her biochip technology. The goal is a simple and standard test for the diagnosis of cancer, which avoids conventional and complex diagnostic steps.

Lee and Nunna worked with Oncologists at Weill Cornell Medicine and Hackensack Medical Center to identify clinical applications. In its current design, the device would provide qualitative and quantitative results of cancer antigens in blood samples, providing information on the presence and severity of cancer. The next step, he says, will be to expand the platform to detect several diseases using a single blood sample obtained with a pin prick.

"Although health care technology is considered a rapidly evolving technology, many unmet needs still need to be met Early diagnosis of life-threatening diseases is key to saving lives and improving patient treatment outcomes ", did he declare. adding: "There is a huge need for health technology, including a universal diagnostic platform that can deliver instant results to the physician's office and other treatment environments.

Nunna is a co-founder and senior researcher at Abonics, Inc., a startup created by Lee to market their device. He is named as co-inventor with Lee for three patents published on microarrays and six additional patents under review by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Their technology has been financially supported by the I-Corps program of the National Science Foundation and the New Jersey Health Foundation (NJHF), a non-profit society that supports health-related biomedical research and education programs in the field of health. New Jersey.

"As we know, early detection can dramatically improve treatment outcomes for patients," said George F. Heinrich, MD, vice president and chief executive officer of the NJHF, announcing the award. "Currently, doctors use diagnostic devices requiring a minimum of four hours of sample preparation in centralized diagnostic centers rather than in their local offices."

In 2017, Nunna received the "Best Design in Healthcare Innovation and Points of Care Innovations" award at the Society's Health Technology and Point-of-Care Technology Conference. engineering in medicine and biology, which is held at the headquarters of the National Institute of Health. in Bethesda, MD. The same year, the technology received the National Innovation Award at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Exhibition, an annual gathering of technology transfer offices, businesses and corporations. of investment that come together to identify promising technologies from around the world.