{"id":95354,"date":"2019-03-18T09:22:27","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T13:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=95354"},"modified":"2024-02-09T11:55:25","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T16:55:25","slug":"ucf-researchers-developing-sensor-detect-brain-disorders-seconds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-researchers-developing-sensor-detect-brain-disorders-seconds\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Researchers Developing Sensor to Detect Brain Disorders in Seconds"},"content":{"rendered":"
Using nanotechnology, UCF researchers have developed the first rapid detector for dopamine, a chemical that is believed to play a role in various diseases such as Parkinson\u2019s, depression and some cancers.<\/p>\n
Studies show too much dopamine could be associated with some cancers, while low dopamine could be associated with Parkinson\u2019s disease and depression.\u00a0 The new technique developed at UCF requires only a few drops of blood, and results are available in minutes instead of hours because no separate lab is necessary to process the sample.<\/p>\n
The new technology was described in a recent study in the journal Nano Letters<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n More than half a million people in the United States have Parkinson\u2019s and major episodes of depression affect about 16 million adults a year.<\/p>\n Current methods to detect dopamine are time consuming, require rigorous sample preparation, including blood-plasma separation, as well as specialized laboratory equipment. With this device, however, a few drops of blood on a palm-sized, rectangular chip is all that is needed.<\/p>\n Former methods of dopamine detection require much more time, sample preparations and specialized lab equipment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cA neurotransmitter like dopamine is an important chemical to monitor for our overall well-being so we can help screen out neural disorders like Parkinson\u2019s disease, various brain cancers, and monitor mental health,\u201d says Debashis Chanda, an associate professor in UCF\u2019s NanoScience Technology Center<\/a> and the study\u2019s principle investigator. \u201cWe need to monitor dopamine so that we can adjust our medical doses to help address those problems.\u201d<\/p>\n Plasma is separated from the blood within the chip. Cerium oxide nanoparticles, which coat the sensor surface, selectively capture dopamine at microscopic levels from the plasma. The capture of dopamine molecules subsequently changes how light is reflected from the sensor and creates an optical readout indicating the level of dopamine.<\/p>\n Sudipta Seal, an engineering professor and chair of UCF\u2019s Department of Materials Science and Engineering<\/a>, says the use of cerium oxide nanoparticles was an important part of the sensor\u2019s success.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting the sensor to be sensitive to dopamine had been quite the challenge for researchers for a while, but using altered cerium oxide nanostructures on the sensing platform was key in making the sensor work,\u201d Seal says.<\/p>\n Chanda co-developed the sensor with Abraham Vazquez-Guardado ’16MS ’18PhD<\/strong>, a graduate of UCF\u2019s College of Optics and Photonics<\/a> and now a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern 海角直播.<\/p>\n V\u00e1zquez-Guardado says reduced steps and processing make the test cost effective, and it can also be performed at the patient\u2019s side rather than in a separate lab.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no preprocessing needed,\u201d he says. \u201cOur plan was to make a much quicker, enzyme-free kind of detection.\u201d<\/p>\n Study co-authors also included\u00a0Swetha Barkam \u201913MS\u00a0 \u201917PhD<\/strong>, a UCF materials science and engineering graduate and Order of Pegasus recipient, now at Micron Technology; Madison\u00a0Peppler \u201917<\/strong>, a graduate of UCF\u2019s Department of Chemistry<\/a>; Aritra Biswas, a doctoral student in the College of Optics and Photonics; Wessley Dennis, a UCF student supported by UCF\u2019s Research and Mentoring Activities<\/a> program; and Soumen Das, a postdoctoral fellow in the center who now works in the medical industry.<\/p>\n