2010 R&D 100 Winner
The Acoustic Wave Biosensors for Rapid Point-of-Care Medical Diagnostics is the first device to identify a range of pathogens while the patient is in the office, enabling for more accurate diagnosis or treatment. The hand-held, battery-powered, portable detection system, developed by Sandia National Laboratories and Univ. of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, both of Albuquerque, N.M., identifies pathogens in nasal and throat swabs, saliva, urine, and blood, and can perform environmental detection from water, air, soil, food, and surfaces.
The detection system employs a shear horizontal surface acoustic wave biosensor array functionalized with selective ligands. The sensor array weighs the amount of pathogen bound to its surface by these ligands.
To use, the health technician inserts a microfluidic sensor cartridge matched to the suspected pathogen into the instrument. A drop of the sample is placed on the input port where capillary action draws it on to a sensor. The instrument's software, run on a PDA or computer, indentifies the pathogen and displays the result.
Technology
Hand-held pathogen detector
Developers
Sandia National Laboratories
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
Development Team
The Acoustic Wave Biosensors Development Team:
Marco Bisoffi, Univ. of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
Darren Branch, Sandia National Laboratories
David Brown, Univ. of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
Susan Brozik, Sandia National Laboratories
Thayne Edwards, Sandia National Laboratories
Pam Hall, Univ. of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
Brian Hjelle, Univ. of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
Richard Larson, Univ. of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
David Wheeler, Sandia National Laboratories
