ULTRASOUND ASSISTED ASSAY FOR TOXINS IN BLOOD

THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO SUCCESSFULLY COMBINE ULTRASOUND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED AT TRA WITH ASSAY METHODS AND PECTROSCOPIC ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR DETECTING SPECIFIC TOXINS IN WHOLE BLOOD SAMPLES. THE RESEARCH IN PHASE I OF THIS PROPOSAL FOCUSES ON THE APPLICATION OF THIS METHODOLOGY TO THE ANALYSIS OF SAXITOXIN. THE KNOWN CHEMICAL ASSAY METHOD WILL BE MODIFIED FOR COATING IN HEMATOCRIT TUBES, AND THE COMPOSITION OF THE FORMULATION WILL BE OPTIMIZED FOR RAPID FLUORESCENT DETECTION OF SAXITOXIN DEGRADATION PRODUCT IN PLASMA. TUBES COATED WITH THE OPTIMUM FORMULATION WILL THEN BE USED TO SAMPLE WHOLE BLOOD WHICH WILL SOLUBILIZE THE ASSAY FORMULATION. ULTRASOUND WILL BE USED TO BAND WHOLE BLOOD INTO PACKED CELL AND PLASMA REGIONS, AND THE SAXITOXIN LEVELS WILL BE DETERMINED BY FLUORESCENT ANALYSIS OF THE PLASMA REGIONS. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE PHASE I RESEARCH WILL DEMONSTRATE A STRAIGHTFORWARD METHOD FOR BLOOD ANALYSIS THAT CAN BE ADAPTED FOR DETECTION OF A WIDE VARIETY OF TOXINS (PHASE II). THIS METHODOLOGY WOULD THEN BE SUITABLE FOR FIELD USE INASMUCH AS IT REQUIRES SMALL AMOUNTS OF BLOOD, INEXPENSIVE AND DISPOSAL EQUIPMENT, AND MINIMALLY TRAINED PERSONNEL.