Microneedle-based Transdermal Sensing of Electrolytes: Towards A Metabolic Panel-

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant The metabolic panel has emerged as the standard line of inquiry for initial screening as well as follow up assessment in the healthcare domain Administered via blood draw in the clinical setting the metabolic panel consists of assessing unique blood borne analytes indicative of renal and hepatic function electrolyte and fluid balance diabetes mellitus kidney disease and hypertension Despite the clinical utility of the metabolic panel the process of drawing blood is inconvenient painful and can only provide a snapshot of the patientandapos s metabolic function at a particular moment in time thereby limiting its utility for monitoring chronic conditions However in order to be effective treatment of chronic conditions entails a concerted and proactive effort to manage healthcare throughout the daily routine which would be substantially enhanced if circulating metabolite and electrolyte levels were able to be quantified on a continuous rather than intermittent basis This project aims to address the above limitations of a conventional metabolic panel via the development of a andquot Metabolic Panel on A Chipandquot The proposed device leverages our teamandapos s latest innovations in electrochemistry D printing conducting polymers and surface functionalization to tender the real time profile of blood based electrolytes in a minimally invasive pain free fashion thereby leading to substantially improved clinical outcomes among the general population as well as those afflicted with chronic disease Expected outcomes from this research project include the development of minimally invasive microneedle arrays containing electrochemical transducers that exhibit chemical selectivity towards sodium potassium chloride and bicarbonate ions and the ability to fabricate the said microneedle arrays employing high throughput low cost D printing methods This agglomerates innovative techniques for the functionalization of the microneedle contingents and relies on the development of ion selective membranes in connection with novel methods of electrochemical transduction The salient features of this transdermal biosensor platform include high sensitivity stability selectivity simplicity versatility and robustness at a price that is amenable to widespread healthcare adoption The proposed microneedle array biosensor will thus fill a long standing void by enabling the healthcare provider to record archive and assess the metabolic response of the patient to the administration of various medical treatments medications and therapies resulting in improved management of chronic disease PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE The proposed project aims to develop minimally invasive D printed microneedle array biosensors for the transdermal quantification of electrolyte levels sodium potassium chloride and bicarbonate This new paradigm will impart the ability to monitor electrolytes in a real time continuous and pain free fashion to assess fluid and electrolyte status kidney function and response to various medications and other medical therapies The proposed research will substantially advance the state of the art in the extraction of pertinent physiological information from the skin without requiring venipuncture blood draws and will circumvent many of the challenges associated with the performance of conventional metabolic panels that are widely used in the clinical setting