An "artificial nose" for the non-invasive diagnosis of anxiety in alveolar breath

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event An "artificial nose" for the non-invasive diagnosis of anxiety in alveolar breath Jessica Fitzgerald1 and Hicham Fenniri2 1 Northeastern University, Bioengineering, United States 2 Northeastern University, Chemical Engineering, United States In recent decades, artificial olfactory devices, known as electronic noses (e-noses), have been developed for disease detection and diagnosis by evaluation of exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs), produced from multiple metabolic processes. These devices consist of a cross-reactive sensor array, capable of interacting with multiple vapor analytes, a signal transduction mechanism, and response pattern recognition software. Our working hypothesis is that an increase in production of specific VOCs reflecting compromised metabolic processes found in patients suffering with a range of clinically significant anxiety symptoms could be detected with an e-nose. Such a fingerprint approach may also unveil possible biological pathways relevant to anxiety psychopathology. This paper will present the design and fabrication of our barcoded resin-based (BCR) sensor array and its application for the detection and identification of VOCs. BCRs were prepared from a library of six alkylated styrene monomers, combined in a binary fashion resulting in 63 (2n–1) polymers. The same sub-library was resynthesized by including one of our 10 fluorinated monomer, resulting in 10 additional sub-libraries and a total of 700 copolymers. Upon interaction with an analyte, the vibrational signatures of the polymer array change, resulting in slight but detectable spectral variations for each BCR. The collective response (or analyte-specific patterns) was then be quantified using multivariate data analysis. This platform improves upon existing technologies as it dramatically increases sensitivity and information content using vibrational spectroscopy of a large library of sensory elements (encoded polymers) Our current goal is to optimize a sensor array of BCRs for detecting clinically significant anxiety and stress VOCs with highest disease specificity in exhaled breath. We also plan to optimize (i.e. train) this device for the recognition of analytes of interest that will enhance our ability to render the most accurate anxiety diagnosis. Laser Biomedical Research Center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Massachusetts General Hospital Keywords: biosensing, material design, biomedical application, Environmental response Conference: 10th World Biomaterials Congress, Montréal, Canada, 17 May - 22 May, 2016. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Environmentally sensitive biomaterials Citation: Fitzgerald J and Fenniri H (2016). An "artificial nose" for the non-invasive diagnosis of anxiety in alveolar breath. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. Conference Abstract: 10th World Biomaterials Congress. doi: 10.3389/conf.FBIOE.2016.01.02410 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 27 Mar 2016; Published Online: 30 Mar 2016. Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Jessica Fitzgerald Hicham Fenniri Google Jessica Fitzgerald Hicham Fenniri Google Scholar Jessica Fitzgerald Hicham Fenniri PubMed Jessica Fitzgerald Hicham Fenniri Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.