Handheld Instrument for Nerve Agent Detection

Rapid detection and identification of chemical warfare nerve agents (CWNAs) are critical to the screening and subsequent treatment of exposed warfighters. Inhibition of cholinesterase activity is insufficient as a marker of exposure to CWNAs, in that it can give misleading results and does not distinguish CWNAs from commonly employed pesticides. This proposal presents a revolutionary field-portable diagnostic instrument capable of the detection and identification of specific CWNAs. Design will be based on a microsampling and assay disposable silicon microchip, pioneered in the proposer’s laboratory using MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technology. The microchip consists of a hollow silicon microneedle comparable in cross-section to a human hair integrated with lab-on-a-chip microfluidics. Silicon microfabrication technology developed for the manufacture of electronic integrated circuits can produce these microchips in high volume at low unit cost. Selectivity and sensitivity are achieved through high affinity binding antibodies towards metabolites of CWNAs and an electrochemical signal amplification technique. In conjunction with the design of the BioMEMS disposable detection chip, a prototype hand-held portable instrument will be designed during the Phase I basic program. The initial BioMEMS microchip instrument system will be designed for detection and identification of CWNAs, but is adaptable to other chemical warfare agent such as: vesicants, pulmonary agents, and cyanides.