Award Abstract # 1157962
Autonomous Sentinels for the Detection and Capture of Invasive Pathogens
| NSF Org: | CBET |
| Recipient: | |
| Initial Amendment Date: | March 12, 2012 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | March 28, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 1157962 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: | Rajakkannu Mutharasan CBET Div Of Chem, Bioeng, Env, & Transp Sys ENG Directorate For Engineering |
| Start Date: | March 15, 2012 |
| End Date: | February 29, 2016(Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $299,997.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $359,965.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: | FY 2014 = $59,968.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: | 321-A INGRAM HALL AUBURN AL US 36849-0001 (334)844-4438 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: | |
| Primary Place of Performance: | 275 Wilmore Labs Auburn AL US 36849-5341 |
| Primary Place of Performance Congressional District: | |
| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): | |
| Parent UEI: | |
| NSF Program(s): | BIOSENS-Biosensing |
| Primary Program Source: | 01001415DBNSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): | |
| Program Element Code(s): | |
| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT The goal of this proposed research is to investigate and develop autonomous sentinels for pathogen detection and capture. A system composed of these sentinels will mimic the function of naturally occurring biological defensive systems, such as white blood cells. This autonomous sentinel system will have the capability of seeking out invasive bacteria, spores and toxins in liquid environments, detecting and capturing them. Once detected and captured, the invasive pathogens can be removed by retrieving the sentinels. These sentinels will be constructed of magnetostrictive materials and require no onboard power. The Intellectual Merits of this project are: 1) this research will further the scientific understanding of magnetostrictive alloys as a class of materials for sensor applications through both theoretical simulations and experimental verification and 2) novel methods of generating magnetostrictive powered propulsion will be investigated. New autonomous sentinel technologies developed under this proposal are anticipated to have Broader Impacts leading to a plethora of devices for food safety, biosecurity, point of care, home care, and environmental monitoring. In the area of food safety alone, the impacts could be monumental. Every year over 48 million Americans become ill due to eating pathogen contaminated foods. The resulting foodborne illnesses will lead to the hospitalization of approximately 128,000 people and the death of more than 3,000 at a cost of over $30 billion dollars. The autonomous sentinels developed under this project could be used to identify contamination of foods before human consumption. This would substantially improve the safety of our food supply, improve the quality of human life, reduce human suffering and deaths, and limit lost productivity due to foodborne outbreaks in the world.
1157962/Chin
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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Yating Chai, Shin Horikawa, Suiqiong Li, Howard C. Wikle, Bryan A. Chin "A surface-scanning coil detector for real-time, in-situ detection of bacteria on fresh food surfaces" Biosensors and Bioelectronics , v.50 , 2013 , p.311
Yating Chai, Howard C. Wikle, Zhenyu Wang, Shin Horikawa, Steve Best, Zhongyang Cheng, Dave F. Dyer, Bryan A. Chin "Design of a surface-scanning coil detector for direct bacteria detection on food surfaces using a magnetoelastic biosensor" Journal of Applied Physics , v.114 , 2013 , p.104504
Yating Chai, Shin Horikawa, Howard C. Wikle, Zhenyu Wang, Bryan A. Chin "Surface-scanning coil detectors for magnetoelastic biosensors" Applied Physics Letters , v.103 , 2013
Hong Xie, Yating Chai, Shin Horikawa, Suiqing Li, Bryan A. Chin, and Howard C. Wikle "A pulsed wave excitation system to characterize micron-scale magnetoelastic biosensors" Sensors and Actuators A: Physical , v.205 , 2014 , p.143
Horikawa, S.; Chai, Y. WIkle, III, H. C.; Dai, J.; Hu, J.; Suh, S.-J.; Vodyanoy, V. J. Chin, B. A. "Nature-inspired magnetoelastic biosentinels for the detection of pathogenic bacteria in stagnant liquids" Proc. SPIE 9488, Sensinsing for Agriculture and Food Quality and Safety VII , 2015 , p.94880C 10.1117/12.2087766
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The goal of this project was to develop biosentinels to detect and capture invasive pathogens such as Salmonella Typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus. The biosentinel was formed from a freestanding magnetoelastic (ME) resonator that had a biorecognition element immobilized on the resonator surface. ME resonators, narrow flat magnetostrictive ribbons, were fabricated from iron and boron using sputter deposition which is a common microelectronic fabrication technique. The ME resonators ranged in length from 50 to 4000 micrometers. Various bacteriophages were used for the biorecognition element with each resonator possessing a single type of phage that would target a specific pathogen. Phages investigated included E2, C4-22, lytic, and JRB7 that specifically targeted Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella spp, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus anthracis, respectively. The magnetic nature of the ME resonator enabled the biosentinel propulsion and detection of pathogens in liquids. The biosentinels were propelled by external magnetic fields that controlled the direction and distance of the motion. While in motion, the biosentinels had increased opportunity to encounter and capture pathogens. Following exposure to the pathogens, the biosentinels were compelled to vibrate by a separate oscillating magnetic field. The magnetostrictive property of the biosentinels gave rise to a strong magnetoelastic response. Magnetoelasticity is the coupling of the magnetic and elastic fields within the material; the biosentinels changed length (vibrated) in response to the oscillating magnetic field. The biosentinel vibrational resonant frequency decreases as pathogens bind to the surface. A flat coil was developed to excite the vibration and to measure the resonant frequency. The flat coil was a significant development of this project. It allowed the real-time measurement of the resonant frequency and permitted greater freedom of positioning the detector coil. Minimum detection limits of the pathogens were on the order of 102 CFU/ml after 30 minutes of exposure in spiked solutions. The results of this effort strongly contributed to our selection as one of six finalists for the 2014 FDA Food Safety Challenge.
Last Modified: 05/10/2016
Modified by: BryanAChin
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