Immunoassay is probably the most commonly used technology for the detection and quantification of biomolecules in the diagnosis and management of disease. Among many immunoassay methodologies, biosensors based on direct immunoassay have been attractive because of their ideal advantages such as rapid detection, real-time analysis, regeneration of sensing device or reproducible inexpensive disposable, no pretreatment, and so on. On the other hand, emerging nanotechnology creates functional materials, devices, and systems through control of matter at nanomater scale and exploit novel properties and phenomena at the same level. Coupling the nanotechnology with the immunoassay, Lynntech is proposing development of an array-based biological sensor detecting biologically relevant molecular and physical targets in samples from blood, saliva and other body fluids, or for use in the research laboratory (purified samples), clinical specimens and in the living body. The sensor consists of multiple antibodies on nano-sized pores with mechanical stability to monitor multiple proteins and molecules with minimized sample volume simultaneously so that the sensor can be used as a biomarker. Phase I effort will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed technology by fabricating a single nanopore, attaching antibodies, evaluating the nanopore sensor, and fabricating nanopore arrays. Further development of the technology toward miniaturized biomarker will be included in the Phase II effort.
