Poor dietary patterns are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in the US and are the greatest modifiable disease risk factor facing Americans. A range of factors conspire to leave racial and ethnic minorities with higher rates of obesity and therefore higher risks for nutrition-related chronic diseases. Nutrition education is a proven method for developing better dietary practices and produces better results when the education is personalized as opposed to a one-size-fits-all approach. Yet communities in low-socioeconomic and rural conditions often lack access to nutrition counseling services. There is a need for scalable, objective dietary assessment methods that can provide personalized dietary feedback, education, and recommendations. Bender Tech (BT) has developed a multiplexed biosensor system capable of rapidly quantifying multiple urinary biomarkers of dietary intake from a home-care setting for personalized nutrition education via its mobile app. We propose to integrate our system into an automated, passive smart-toilet design capable of providing personalized dietary recommendations in a burden-free system for the user accessible to individuals in rural and low socioeconomic conditions alike. SA1: Develop Electrochemical Working Electrode Specific to Sodium: We will combine techniques developed in-house along with techniques from literature to develop electrochemical sensors capable of sensitively and specifically quantifying urinary sodium and add it to our existing multiplexed design. SA2: Eliminate Non-Specific Binding and Interference in Urine Samples: Urine is a complex solution with variable composition of minerals and salts. We will systematically identify and quantify any interference by measuring the response to abundant and/or structurally similar counter-targets and eliminate or minimize contaminating species. SA3: Integrate Sensors and Electronics into Automated and Passive Smart Toilet Design: We will rapidly prototype housing and environmental sensor designs that enable our existing biosensors and electronics to integrate with a home-toilet for automated, passive testing and analysis. A successful outcome of this proposal will be a multiplexed biosensor system capable of rapid and accurate quantification of sodium-to-creatinine ratios in urine from a home-toilet without input from the user. This will ready the product for widespread user-testing and optimization and would be the subject of a future phase II submission.
Poor dietary behaviors and their resulting negative health outcomes disproportionately affect minorities. The reasons for this are multi-faceted, but one significant cause is both a lack of educational programs and the lack of economic means to access services such as ongoing nutrition counseling. Bender Tech proposes to integrate its multiplexed biosensor technology and associated mobile app into an IoT-based smart-toilet for passive, dietary monitoring and personalized nutrition guidance accessible to individuals in rural and low socioeconomic conditions.
