Biomarker Detection Sensor with Reference System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current biomarker detection methods for chronic diseases like tuberculosis are unreliable and require sophisticated laboratory equipment and skilled personnel, making them inaccessible in developing countries where resources are limited, and they often fail to distinguish between latent and active stages of the disease.
Innovation Solution
A device using aptamer-coated carbon nanotubes or graphene sensors with a reference system to detect biomarkers, which cancels out spurious effects from varying electrolyte concentrations and individual variations, allowing for reliable and rapid disease detection without the need for skilled personnel, and can be used in a point-of-care setting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If centralised laboratory testing with sophisticated equipment is used, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase, making it inaccessible in resource-constrained environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical laboratory testing equipment with a simplified electronic sensor system based on carbon nanotubes or graphene. The sensor detects biomarkers through electrical conductivity changes when analytes bind to aptamers, eliminating the need for sophisticated mechanical testing equipment while maintaining detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the detection parameter from optical or mechanical measurements to electrical conductivity measurements. By measuring conductivity changes in the sensor material when biomarkers bind, the system achieves accurate detection with simpler equipment suitable for resource-constrained settings.
2Reliability
If reference system is added to cancel spurious effects, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the sensing system into two distinct components: a measurement sensor that detects biomarkers and a reference sensor that detects spurious effects. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each sensor's function while maintaining overall system simplicity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The reference sensor acts as an intermediary that measures environmental interference (electrolyte concentration changes, temperature variations) separately from the biomarker detection sensor. By measuring the interference component independently, the system can subtract it from the total signal to obtain accurate biomarker readings.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device provides reliable and rapid detection of biomarkers, improving the accuracy and specificity of disease diagnosis, enabling early detection and monitoring of tuberculosis and potentially other conditions, and can be operated by minimally trained personnel in resource-constrained environments.
Implementation Method 1
capable of conjugating with a target biomarker to form a complex, and coated onto the first of the pair of interdigitated contacts to form the measurement sensor. The further sensor structure of substantially identical nature, but already conjugated with the biomarker targeted by the measurement sensor, is applied to the second of the pair of interdigitated contacts to form the reference sensor.
Implementation Method 2
A biomarker detection device is mounted inside a body moulding. A substrate is attached to the inside of the body moulding, and a plurality of planar contacts or electrodes is applied to the top side of the substrate to form sensors.
Data Source
AI summary
A device for identifying the presence of a specific target molecule or biomarker by the detection of a change in an electrical property includes a measurement sensor 8 comprising a semiconducting sensor structure 12 capable of conjugating with the biomarker, thus giving rise to the said change in electrical property, and an electrode system 3, 4 for conducting a signal from the device. According to the invention there is a further such sensor 9, of substantially identical form but having its sensor structure 14 already conjugated with the biomarker, or otherwise capped, e.g. using a further oligonucleotide strand, so as to act as an internal reference. When a biological sample, e.g. saliva, is applied to the electrodes, the reference enables the discounting of all environmental effects other than the biomarker.The invention provides a simple, cheap and accurate test for one or more biomarkers that can be used in the field without complex equipment.