SBIR Phase I: Microcoil Sensors for Detection of Toxic Proteins and Bacteria

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) research project will develop a novel microcoil (or called microspring) sensing technology. Toxic proteins and bacterial pathogens pose a severe threat to the health of the general population and the military. The proof of concept experiments will be conducted with innocuous model systems using antibody modified coils. Antigens will be affinity captured on the surface of antibody-modified microcoils, which alters the stress properties of the surface and will change the microcoil electrical resistance. The specific aims of the present proposal are to optimize the microcoil geometries and fabrication processes for best sensing performance and to demonstrate the sensitive detection in various model systems. The attribute of this sensing technology will be of particular benefit in the area of Category A-C pathogens detection. This research will contribute to this novel sensing platform for the development of other chemical and biological sensors. The technology will have commercial applications in medical diagnostics for detecting potential pathogens. Existing detection systems have tended to be fairly large, are not very accurate, and require human operation. Many current analytical methods rely on signal amplification that introduces potential bias or errors in the data and require multiple steps. Standard microbiological approaches to detect bacterial and viral pathogens are time-consuming and tedious. A portable, or even wearable badge-size detection device is possible based these microsensors. Furthermore, microcoil sensors have proved to be highly sensitive.