The Problem

No device is available where quick biomarker measurements to aid medical decision are needed

Heart failure (HF) occurs when the heart can no longer pump blood adequately to meet the needs of the body. It is a global pandemic that affects at least 26 million people worldwide with increasing prevalence. The cost of HF on the economy is significant and will inflate dramatically with an aging population. Furthermore, unplanned hospital readmission accounts for a tremendous cost in medical care expense and causes poor health outcomes for patients. Among many medical conditions, HF has the highest hospital readmission rate for patient aged 65 and above in US.

Accurate and early diagnosis is of vital importance for improving outcomes of HF patients. Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is an established diagnostic and prognostic marker for the early detection of heart failure. BNP levels are the single best predictor of HF.

Current FDA approved immunoassays for BNP detection can only be carried out in medical laboratories or emergency rooms. In clinics, it takes days of not weeks to obtain BNP level measurements from a laboratory.

Our Solution

Point-of-care BNP Reader

Our solution is a portable point of care diagnostic platform that provides rapid measurements of BNP levels in a single drop of blood via an electrical readout both in outpatients clinic and family clinic.

• Highly sensitive compared to traditional electrochemical sensors
• Quantitative test
• One drop of blood
• Faster
• Decrease the cost drastically
• No separation, no dilution, no washing needed
• Self calibration
• Tag-free

The principle of operation

In a circuit, the CNT film acts as a resistor element. Due to the semiconducting nature of the CNT film, its resistance changes in response to antibody-antigen binding on its surface, a process called DOPING. This resistance change is proportional to the antigen (analyte) concentration in the blood.

More applications of our technology