Medical Design Briefs - August 2021 - 56

New Microchip Sensor Measures Stress Hormones
from Drop of Blood
The use of nanosensors
detects cortisol molecules
directly.
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ
A Rutgers-led team of researchers has
developed a microchip that can measure
stress hormones in real time from a drop
of blood. The study appears in the journal
Science Advances.
Cortisol and other stress hormones regulate
many aspects of our physical and
mental health, including sleep quality.
High levels of cortisol can result in poor
sleep, which increases stress that can contribute
to panic attacks, heart attacks and
other ailments.
Currently, measuring cortisol takes
costly and cumbersome laboratory set -
ups, so the Rutgers-led team looked for
a way to monitor its natural fluctuations
in daily life and provide patients with
feedback that allows them to receive the
right treatment at the right time.
The researchers used the same technologies
that is used to fabricate computer
chips to build sensors that are
thinner than a human hair and that can
detect biomolecules at low levels. The
researchers then validated the miniaturized
device's performance on 65 blood
samples from patients with rheumatoid
arthritis.
" The use of nanosensors allowed us to
detect cortisol molecules directly without
the need for any other molecules or
A depiction of stress molecules in blood electronically being detected inside nano-wells. (Credit: Ella
Marushchenko)
particles to act as labels, " says lead
author Reza Mahmoodi, a postdoctoral
scholar in the department of electrical
and computer engineering at Rutgers
University-New Brunswick.
With technologies like the team's new
microchip, patients can monitor their
hormone levels and better manage
chronic inflammation, stress and other
conditions at a lower cost, says senior
author Mehdi Javanmard, an associate
professor
A Rutgers-led team of researchers has developed
a microchip that can measure stress hormones
in real time from a drop of blood.
(Credit: Rutgers University)
56
Intro
Cov
invasive cortisol measurement in other
fluids such as saliva and urine. The fact
that molecular labels are not required
eliminates the need for large bulky
instruments like optical microscopes
and plate readers, making the readout
instrumentation something you can
measure ultimately in a small pocketsized
box or even fit onto a wristband
one day. "
in Rutgers' department of
electrical and computer engineering.
" Our new sensor produces an accurate
and reliable response that allows a
continuous readout of cortisol levels for
real-time analysis, " he added. " It has
great potential to be adapted to nonwww.medicaldesignbriefs.com
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The
study included Rutgers co-author
Pengfei Xie, a PhD student, and
researchers from the University of
Minnesota and University of Penn -
sylvania. The research was funded by the
DARPA ElectRX program.
For more information, visit www.
rutgers.edu.
Medical Design Briefs, August 2021
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Medical Design Briefs - August 2021

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