Rapid SERS-based Detection of Sepsis and TBI Biomarkers

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often occurs when a sudden trauma or head injury disrupts the function of the brain. Common causes of TBI include damage caused by explosive devices, falls and vehicle or motorcycle accidents. Sepsis is the result of a massive immune response to bacterial infection that gets into the blood. Sepsis often leads to organ failure or injury, and has always been a significant problem on the battlefield; infections ran rampant before the discovery of antibiotics. TBI has been called the signature wound of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The US Department of Defense, calculates over 360,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have suffered some form of TBI since the year 2000. Sepsis, while affecting a small proportion of military casualties, has a significant effect in increasing morbidity and mortality. Further, this disease often proceeds rapidly, and manifests itself in unpredictable ways. Ionica Sciences proposes to develop a multiplexed platform that targets biomarkers associated with sepsis and mild to moderate TBI. The Ionica Sciences assay combines target-specific DNA aptamers with Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) to rapidly and sensitively detect human biomarker protein tau for TBI and human procalcitonin for sepsis.