Grant: Idea to Innovation

This I2I Phase I project aims to advance our biosensor platform to a compact benchtop prototype, in order to engage more effectively with medical partners and potential customers, and to build the IP in anticipation of transferring the technology to an industrial partner. There are 2 objectives: (i) to build a compact benchtop interrogator for the biosensor chips and (ii) to manufacture sealed biosensor chips. Our biosensor platform has the potential to bring reliable testing out of the lab, and closer to the patient at the point of care (POC) where decisions can be made quickly, for the greatest impact on patient care. POC diagnostics has been growing for several years due to the benefits of quicker diagnosis and treatment for the patient, and reduced diagnostic and treatment costs. Our platform and approaches have been validated, in collaboration with medical researchers, by detecting an infectious disease and leukemia in several patient blood samples. Our biosensors rest on the discovery by the PI that optical surface waves can propagate along a metal stripe and detect molecular binding occurring thereon without a label. Functionalization of the gold stripe with recognition chemistry renders the biosensor specific to an analyte of interest. Monitoring the output signal under flow reveals binding reactions occurring in real-time, providing basic information on the presence or absence of the target analyte in the fluid, enhanced with key information on the reaction kinetics of the interaction. Such biosensors will provide the benefits of high-sensitivity, high-selectivity, real-time detection in a compact footprint and at low cost. The proposed capability is disruptive to POC technologies. The project is perfectly aligned with the objectives of the I2I Phase I program to support the development of innovative and disruptive technologies ready for commercialisation. Interaction with several industry partners has confirmed that the objectives and aims of this proposal are sound and that the outcomes would be of strong interest. A compact benchtop prototype and sealed biosensor chips are required to intensify our collaborations with the medical community and support the next level of industrial engagement.