Bioanalytical Systems, Inc. — Department of Health and Human Services STTR Phase I: NIEHS

Description

Exposure to toxic levels of metals causes significant negative chronic health problems in the exposed populationsDuring and after exposuremetals such as manganeseleadnickelmercuryetcare present in biological fluidsA fully integrated wearable device would enable real time monitoring of exposure levelsThis would quickly alert those exposed to toxic concentrations of metals and mitigate the chronic health problems caused by exposureBioanalytical Systems Incwill partner with Fraunhofer USAIncCenter for Coatings and Diamond Technologies to develop wearable device for the continuous monitoring of metals in biological fluids such as sweatFraunhofer USAIncwill optimize the geometry of flexible boron doped diamond electrodes with multiple working electrode for use with a multiplexer potentiostat developed by Bioanalytical Systems IncThis device will be capable of detecting metals at the concentration levels present in sweat through anodic and cathodic stripping voltammetry and the wearable device will be a battery powered potentiostat capable of Bluetooth communication and will be controlled by a cell phone or tablet Exposure to toxic levels of metal in the environment is a serious problem in many workplace environmentssuch as miningmanufacturingand constructionand it is a serious problem in the water and air nearby these locationsContinuous monitoring with a wearable electrochemical device would improve understanding of how this affects health and assist in mitigating exposure to toxic compoundsAn integrated device with small flexible electrodes and a portable potentiostat that can be controlled by cell phone would enable greatly improved monitoring of exposure levels