Low-cost, handheld microfluidic device for detection and monitoring of brevetoxins in marine environment

During harmful algal blooms (HAB), brevetoxins are concentrated enough to cause a combination of gastro-intestinal and neurological symptoms as well as other adverse human health effects. Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning is caused by consumption of shellfish contaminated with brevetoxins during HAB. Rapid and real-time methods for brevetoxin detection are necessary to protect the public health and ensure food safety. Current measurement and detection methods rely on having to take the samples from the field to the laboratory for analysis. This is often a time consuming and costly process. More importantly, the lack of real-time data hampers proper and timely decision making. The proposed handheld platform is capable of rapid and real-time detections of brevetoxins with the selectivity and sensitivity that can only be achieved today with laboratory instruments. The proposed technology will therefore greatly benefit the shellfish industry and the aquaculture industry in general. In addition to brevetoxins, the same technology has clear potential to be subsequently developed to permit the diagnostics of toxins produced by a wide range of other pathogens. In particular, the same microfluidic instrumentation could be readily adapted to monitoring other water-based toxins including additional marine HAB toxins associated with fish and shellfish contamination as well as cyanobacteria toxins.