The Dengue (DENV) and Chikungunya viruses (CHIKV) are primarily transmitted by two types of mosquitoes, the Aedes aegypti and the Aedes albopictus. Patients infected by DENV may experience dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). DHF and DSS could be fatal and are of particular public health concern in endemic regions of the U.S., Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Patients infected by CHIKV experience symptoms similar to acute febrile illnesses ? fever and joint pain. Cases of CHIKV are on the rise in the U.S. as of 2013 when a significant number of cases were reported. Currently, no FDA-approved vaccines or anti-viral drugs are available in U.S. to mitigate the symptoms caused by these viral diseases. While early and accurate detection of vector-borne illnesses correlates to better outcomes, no single laboratory test can accurately diagnose and monitor DENV and CHIKV. To address the growing need for timely detection of vector-borne viruses, InnoSense LLC (ISL) and its collaborator, Colorado State University, propose to develop Nano-VIR, an innovative polymer nanowire microelectronic biosensor. The biosensor builds upon ISL?s emerging and proven polymer nanowire technology. Nano-VIR is expected to detect DENV and CHIKV with a sensitivity of 102?103 genome copy equivalent/ml with ?95% specificity within 30 minutes. In Phase I, ISL?s objectives are: (1) fabricate polymer nanowire biosensor for DENV and CHIKV detection; (2) demonstrate Nano-VIR?s capability to accurately detect DENV and CHIKV. In Phase II, ISL will optimize the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and reliability of the biosensor in a clinical setting using patient samples from CSU. Once optimized, a prototype with accompanying hardware and software will be developed for detection of both DENV and CHIKV in a single assay.
The Dengue (DENV) and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) are primarily transmitted by two types of mosquitoes. Both viruses are of particular public concern in endemic regions of the U.S., Africa, Asia and the Americas where early detection is crucial to treatment and outbreak containment. InnoSense LLC and Colorado State University aim to address the need for rapid and accurate detection of vector-borne viruses with a simple, low- cost, point-of-care biosensor, Nano-VIR, using a single assay.
