Portable diagnostic device for outpatient BNP detection

Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is an established prognostic marker for the early detection of heart failure. Elevated blood BNP levels are directly correlated to the severity of HF and decompensation. Current FDA approved immunoassays for BNP detection can only be carried out in medical laboratories or emergency rooms. Outpatient-use BNP monitors are yet to be developed. The objective of this project is to develop a prototype of the portable diagnostic device that can give a rapid electrical readout of BNP levels in a drop of blood. The applicant will work on the prototype development as a Post Doctoral Fellow both in the supervisors lab (Prof. Juewen Liu, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo) and in the R&D facility of the partner company (LeNano Diagnostics Inc.). The applicant will be responsible for the device fabrication and for carrying out experiments on the electrochemical detection of BNP in whole blood samples. The partner company will benefit from the knowledge and technical skills of the applicant who is an expert in sensing micro-devices and from the scientific expertise of the supervisors lab. The partner company will also benefit from the eventual commercialization of the resulted diagnostic device.

Faculty Supervisor:

Juewen Liu

Student:

Yael Zilberman-Simakov

Partner:

LeNano Diagnostics

Discipline:

Chemistry

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

University of Waterloo