A mask for detecting viruses

Abstract

The present application belongs to the field of medical supplies, and relates to masks under this technical field. Specifically, a mask for detecting viruses is provided, which includes a mask body, on which a sensor and a circuit module are provided, wherein the sensors are multiple, and the multiple sensors are connected in parallel to the circuit module; the sensor is modified with a specific antibody for capturing the target pathogen; the circuit module is used to detect changes in the electrical signal of the sensor; wherein, when the specific antibody on the sensor captures the target pathogen, it causes a change in the electrical signal of the sensor. Based on the technical solution provided by the present application, multiple sensors are provided on the mask body, which can increase the probability of capturing the target pathogen, and is suitable for the detection of low-concentration aerosol pathogens.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of medical supplies, in particular to masks in this technical field, and in particular to a mask for detecting viruses. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, various infectious viruses have been spreading.

[0003] Currently, infectious virus detection typically involves sampling with throat or nasal swabs, followed by nucleic acid testing. However, when multiple people are waiting for sampling, the risk of cross-infection increases. Consequently, various mask solutions capable of detecting pathogens have been proposed by industry experts. However, currently available masks capable of detecting pathogens are mostly only suitable for environments with high pathogen concentrations and cannot accurately detect pathogens at low concentrations. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of the above problems of the prior art, the present application provides a mask for detecting viruses, which is suitable for detecting low-concentration pathogens and increases the probability of capturing pathogens.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the first aspect of the present application provides a mask for detecting viruses, comprising a mask body, on which a sensor and a circuit module are provided, wherein there are multiple sensors, and the multiple sensors are connected in parallel to the circuit module; the sensor is modified with specific antibodies for capturing target pathogens; the circuit module is used to detect changes in the electrical signal of the sensor; wherein, when the specific antibodies on the sensor capture the target pathogen, it will cause changes in the electrical signal of the circuit module.

[0006] As described above, by installing multiple sensors modified with specific antibodies on the mask body, the probability of capturing target pathogens is increased, enabling the mask provided by this application to accurately detect pathogens even in environments with low concentrations of aerosol pathogens. Furthermore, pathogen detection is indicated by changes in the electrical signal from the circuit module, making observation convenient and suitable for the general public.

[0007] As an optional implementation, the sensor is composed of multiple layers, namely a base layer, a paper base layer, a passive fluid control layer and an encapsulation layer, wherein the base layer is in contact with the mask body.

[0008] As an optional implementation, the paper base layer includes:

[0009] a first accommodating area for accommodating a solution containing gold nanoparticles, wherein the specific antibody is bound to the surface of the gold nanoparticles;

[0010] The second accommodating area is used to accommodate conductive ink. The specific antibody is provided on the surface of the conductive ink. Two electrodes are drawn out from the edge of the conductive ink for connection with the circuit module.

[0011] As described above, the pathogens are captured for the first time by the specific antibodies on the gold nanoparticles, and for the second time by the specific antibodies on the conductive ink, thereby realizing the combination of the gold nanoparticles and the conductive ink, causing changes in the electrical signals of the circuit module, and realizing pathogen detection.

[0012] As an optional implementation, the passive fluidic layer is used to control the solution in the first accommodating area to flow to the second accommodating area, so that the gold nanoparticles containing the target pathogens captured in the solution are combined with the specific antibodies in the conductive ink.

[0013] As an optional implementation manner, avidin and biotin are applied to the specific antibodies on the surface of the conductive ink.

[0014] As an optional implementation, the first accommodating area is exposed to the air for contact with the target pathogen in the air.

[0015] As an optional implementation, the specific antibody is a color-changing immune-modified antibody, and when the specific antibody on the sensor captures the target pathogen, the specific antibody changes color.

[0016] As described above, by performing color-changing immunomodification on specific antibodies, the color change of the sensor can be directly observed with the naked eye to alert the user.

[0017] As an optional implementation, the circuit module includes: an analog-to-digital conversion unit, a processor, an early warning module and a storage module; wherein the analog-to-digital conversion unit, the early warning module and the storage module are all connected to the processor; the analog-to-digital conversion unit is used to convert the analog electrical signal of the sensor into a digital signal; the processor is used to determine whether to detect the target pathogen based on the digital signal; the early warning module is used to issue an early warning when the target pathogen is detected; and the storage module is used for the detection results.

[0018] As an optional implementation, the method further includes: obtaining the detection result from the storage module via a terminal and displaying the result in the terminal.

[0019] As an optional implementation, the multiple sensors are arranged on the inner side of the mask body to detect the pathogens exhaled during breathing.

[0020] As mentioned above, the sensor is placed on the inner side of the mask body to detect pathogens in the user's exhaled gas.

[0021] As an optional implementation, the multiple sensors are arranged on the outside of the mask body to detect the pathogens in the air.

[0022] As described above, placing the sensor on the outside of the mask body can detect pathogens in the external environment.

[0023] These and other aspects of the present application will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiment(s). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a mask for detecting viruses provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of the sensor provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of the paper base provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 4 A schematic structural diagram of a passive fluidic layer provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of the circuit module provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The words "first, second, third, etc." or module A, module B, module C and other similar terms in the specification and claims are only used to distinguish similar objects and do not represent a specific ordering of the objects. It is understandable that the specific order or sequence can be interchanged where permitted so that the embodiments of the present application described herein can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein.

[0030] In the following description, the numbers representing the steps, such as S110, S120, etc., do not necessarily mean that the steps must be executed in this manner. If permitted, the order of the steps can be interchanged or they can be executed simultaneously.

[0031] The term "comprising" as used in the specification and claims should not be construed as limiting to what is listed thereafter; it does not exclude other elements or steps. Thus, it should be interpreted as specifying the presence of the features, integers, steps, or components mentioned, but not excluding the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, or components, or groups thereof. Thus, the expression "a device comprising means A and B" should not be limited to a device consisting solely of components A and B.

[0032] References in this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" appearing throughout this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but may refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, the particular features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure.

[0033] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art in the art of this application. In the event of any inconsistency, the meaning described in this specification or the meaning derived from the contents recorded in this specification shall prevail. In addition, the terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing the embodiments of the present application and are not intended to limit this application.

[0034] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of this application clearer, this application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0035] The following describes in detail a mask for detecting viruses provided in an embodiment of the present application with reference to the figures.

[0036] like Figure 1 As shown, it is a structural schematic diagram of a mask for detecting viruses provided in an embodiment of the present application. The mask mainly includes a mask body 10, a plurality of sensors 20 arranged on the mask body 10, and a circuit module 30. Exemplarily, the plurality of sensors 20 can be evenly distributed on the mask body 10, which is beneficial to increase the probability of capturing the target pathogen. Among them, the plurality of sensors 20 are connected in parallel to the circuit module 30. Among them, the sensor 20 is modified with specific antibodies for capturing the target pathogen (ie: antigen). It should be understood that the pathogens in this embodiment may include various viruses. Bacteria, cells, proteins, peptides, etc. For example, the pathogen may be a new coronavirus. In this embodiment, in order to facilitate observation, the specific antibodies can be modified with color-changing immunomodification. When the specific antibodies on the sensor capture the target pathogen, it will cause the specific antibodies to change color, so that the capture results can be observed with the naked eye.

[0037] As a possible implementation method, the specific antibodies on the sensor 20 can be set at intervals, that is, one group of sensors is modified with specific antibodies, and another group of sensors adjacent to it is modified with blanks. This facilitates observation and makes it easier for users to observe changes on the sensor surface.

[0038] As a possible implementation, different antibodies may be modified on different sensors 20, so that multiple pathogens can be captured simultaneously to achieve detection of multiple pathogens.

[0039] In this embodiment, the sensor 20 can be disposed on the inner side of the mask body 10. This arrangement can detect pathogens exhaled by the user, thereby determining whether the user is infected with the corresponding pathogens. The sensor 20 can also be disposed on the outer side of the mask body 10. This arrangement can detect pathogens in the external environment and, in turn, determine whether the external environment in which the user is located contains pathogens.

[0040] The sensor 20 in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below.

[0041] like Figure 2 The figure shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the sensor provided in an embodiment of the present application. The sensor is composed of multiple layers, namely a base layer 21, a paper base layer 22, a passive fluid control layer 23, and an encapsulation layer 24. The base layer 21 is attached to the mask body 10.

[0042] In this embodiment, the base layer 21 may be a plastic base, and the encapsulation layer 24 may be encapsulated with a transparent polymer material, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).

[0043] In this embodiment, if Figure 3As shown, it is a schematic diagram of the structure of the paper base layer 22. The paper base layer 22 includes a first accommodating area A and a second accommodating area B. Among them, the first accommodating area A contains a first solution, which contains gold nanoparticles. The specific antibody can be bound to the surface of the gold nanoparticles by electrostatic adsorption or covalent binding (for example, NHS-EDC covalent binding method). The second accommodating area B contains electrodes, which can be made of conductive ink. The shape of the electrode made of the conductive ink can be a thin film with two electrodes drawn out, a parallel line shape, or a cross-finger electrode shape. During production, a template can be used first, with grooves of a set shape (which can be nano grooves) inside the template. The template is placed on the surface of the paper base layer 22, and the conductive ink is injected into the grooves and evaporated to form the electrode shape, and then the template is removed. The same specific antibody as the surface of the gold nanoparticles is fixed on the conductive polymer electrode (the conductive polymer layer directly carries biotin, and the antibody is fixed through biotin-avidin-biotin-antibody).

[0044] As an optional implementation method, the conductive ink can be a biological ink with special biofunctional groups, specifically: a conductive polymer aqueous solution mixed with long-chain molecules with special biofunctional groups. For example, the conductive polymer is PEDOT:PSS; the long-chain molecules with special biofunctional groups are PLL-g-OEGx-Biotin.

[0045] As an optional implementation, the first accommodating area A can be exposed to the air for contact with target pathogens in the air. For example, a passive flow layer can be overlaid on the first accommodating area A (i.e., the form shown in Figure 2), and the passive fluidic layer overlaid on the first accommodating area A can be hollowed out. Alternatively, the passive fluidic layer can be arranged to cover only the second accommodating area B (not shown), that is, the first accommodating area A is exposed to the air.

[0046] In this embodiment, the passive fluidic layer 23 can siphon the first solution in the first accommodating area A to the second accommodating area B through siphoning, so that the gold nanoparticles containing the target pathogens in the first solution can be combined with the specific antibodies in the conductive ink, thereby causing changes in the electrical signals of the circuit module. Figure 4 An embodiment of the passive fluidic layer 23 is shown, in which a plurality of microchannels are formed on the side facing the paper base layer 22, extending from the first accommodating area A to the second accommodating area B, and can be bent in the second accommodating area B to form longer microchannels to increase the siphon effect (lines represent microchannels).

[0047] It should be understood that in this embodiment, the first solution contained in the first accommodating area A should be kept dry and stored. The moisture generated during breathing soaks the first solution. When the exhaled gas contains pathogens, nanogold-antibody-antigen is formed in the first accommodating area A and then siphoned into the second accommodating area B.

[0048] The circuit module 30 in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below.

[0049] like Figure 5 FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a circuit module 30 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The circuit module 30 includes an analog-to-digital conversion unit 31, a processor 32, an early warning module 33, and a storage module 34. The analog-to-digital conversion unit 31, the early warning module 33, and the storage module 34 are all connected to the processor 32.

[0050] The analog-to-digital conversion unit 31 is used to convert the analog electrical signal of the sensor 20 into a digital signal, and send the digital signal to the processor 32 for the processor to perform relevant processing.

[0051] The processor 32 is configured to determine whether the target pathogen has been detected based on the digital signal sent by the analog-to-digital conversion unit 31, that is, to determine whether the target pathogen has bound to the specific antibody on the sensor. If the target pathogen is detected, the processor 32 stores the detection result in the storage module 34 and instructs the early warning module 33 to issue a corresponding warning to alert the user. In this embodiment, to save energy, the processor 32 can scan and record the corresponding digital signal every T time period.

[0052] The early warning module 33 is configured to issue an early warning when the target pathogen is detected. The present embodiment does not limit the specific form of the early warning module; any form that can provide an early warning effect is acceptable. For example, the early warning module may be an indicator light that illuminates when the target pathogen is detected. Alternatively, the early warning module may be a voice warning module that issues a voice prompt when the target pathogen is detected.

[0053] The storage module 34 stores the detection results. In this embodiment, the storage module 34 may be a radio frequency identification (RFID) memory. Users can access the processing results of the processor 32 by simply utilizing the near-field communication (NFC) function of a smart terminal (e.g., a mobile phone) to store the processing results for easy access. In this embodiment, the storage module 34 may also be a conventional memory, thereby saving costs and reducing power consumption.

[0054] In this embodiment, the detection result can also be obtained from the storage module through a terminal and displayed in the terminal. The terminal can be any smart terminal, such as a tablet phone, a tablet computer, a smart watch, etc.

[0055] Below, the working principle of the mask for detecting viruses provided in the embodiment of the present application is introduced in detail.

[0056] The first solution in the first accommodating area A of the sensor arranged on the mask body contains nano-gold particles with specific antibodies. The target pathogen comes into contact with the nano-gold particles containing specific antibodies through the first accommodating area A exposed to the outside and binds to the specific antibodies. Under the siphon force of the passive fluidic layer of the sensor, the nano-gold particles bound to the pathogen enter the second accommodating area B of the sensor. The pathogen again binds to the specific antibodies on the surface of the conductive ink in the second accommodating area B. At this time, the nano-gold particles become aggregated on the surface of the conductive ink, thereby changing the electrical signal of the circuit module. In addition, since the specific antibodies are antibodies that have been modified with color-changing immunomodification, when the pathogens bind to the specific antibodies, the color of the sensor will change, thereby realizing the synchronous detection of the electrical signal and the color development.

[0057] The mask for detecting viruses provided in the embodiment of the present application realizes the detection of low-concentration aerosol pathogens by setting up multiple sets of parallel sensors. By setting sensors on the inside of the mask body, the detection of pathogens in the user's exhaled gas can be realized. By setting sensors on the outside of the mask body, the detection of pathogens in the user's external environment can be realized. In addition, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application also provides three ways to obtain test results. The first is to obtain the test results by observing the change in the color of the sensor surface with the naked eye; the second is to obtain the test results by the signal sent by the early warning module; and the third is to obtain the test results by the data stored in the storage module. This solution is simple to operate.

[0058] Note that the above are only preferred embodiments of the present application and the technical principles employed. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present application is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, and that various obvious changes, readjustments, and substitutions can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, although the present application has been described in more detail through the above embodiments, the present application is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include many other equivalent embodiments without departing from the scope of protection of the present application, all of which fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A mask for detecting viruses, comprising a mask body, characterized in that: The mask body is provided with a sensor and a circuit module, wherein the sensor is multiple and the multiple sensors are connected in parallel to the circuit module; The sensor is modified with specific antibodies for capturing target pathogens; The circuit module is used to detect changes in the sensor electrical signal; Wherein, when the specific antibody on the sensor captures the target pathogen, it causes a change in the electrical signal of the sensor; The sensor is composed of multiple layers, which are a base layer, a paper base layer, a passive fluid control layer and an encapsulation layer, wherein the base layer is in contact with the mask body; The paper base layer comprises: a first accommodating area for accommodating a solution containing gold nanoparticles, wherein the specific antibody is bound to the surface of the gold nanoparticles; The second accommodating area is used to accommodate conductive ink, the specific antibody is provided on the surface of the conductive ink, and two electrodes are drawn out from the edge of the conductive ink for connecting with the circuit module; A microchannel is formed on a side of the passive fluidic layer facing the paper substrate. The microchannel extends from the first accommodating area to the second accommodating area and can bend in the second accommodating area to form a longer microchannel. The passive fluidic layer is used to control the solution in the first accommodating area to flow through the microchannel to the second accommodating area based on a siphon effect, so that the gold nanoparticles containing the target pathogen in the solution bind to the specific antibody in the conductive ink, and the specific antibody is a color-changing immune-modified antibody. The first accommodating area is exposed to the air for contacting the target pathogen in the air, and the second accommodating area is covered by the passive fluid control layer and the packaging layer.

2. The mask according to claim 1, characterized in that Avidin and biotin are applied to the specific antibodies on the surface of the conductive ink.

3. The mask according to claim 1, characterized in that When the specific antibody on the sensor captures the target pathogen, the specific antibody changes color.

4. The mask according to claim 1, wherein The circuit module includes: an analog-to-digital conversion unit, a processor, an early warning module and a storage module; wherein the analog-to-digital conversion unit, the early warning module and the storage module are all connected to the processor; The analog-to-digital conversion unit is used to convert the analog electrical signal of the sensor into a digital signal; The processor is configured to determine whether to detect the target pathogen based on the digital signal; The early warning module is used to issue an early warning when the target pathogen is detected; The storage module is used to store the detection result.

5. The mask according to claim 4, characterized in that Also includes: The detection result is obtained from the storage module through the terminal and displayed in the terminal.

6. The mask according to claim 1, characterized in that The multiple sensors are arranged on the inner side of the mask body, and / or the multiple sensors are arranged on the outer side of the mask body; The sensor arranged on the inner side is used to detect the pathogens exhaled during breathing; the sensor arranged on the outer side is used to detect the pathogens in the air.

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