Researchers at UB have discovered a way to detect hundreds of chemicals in a sample substance at a single time, a discovery that has vast applications in a variety of scientific areas, including agricultural, environmental and medical fields.
The study revolutionizes sensor technology by miniaturizing the process of chemical testing, enabling researchers to save expenses while allowing for portable, fast chemical analysis with simple operation.
"We may determine hundreds or even thousands of chemical species simultaneously," stated Eun Jeong Cho, a doctoral student in chemistry and lead researcher on the study, in an e-mail. "We focused on developing a small sensor and analyzing multiple samples at the same time to save samples and space for instruments."
The ability to test for a variety of chemicals from a single sample is beneficial to a host of areas, from drug regulation within the body to testing the chemical makeup of foods.
Previously scientists would need to take multiple blood samples in order to test for specific medical problems patients might have. This discovery would permit scientists to analyze one blood sample taken from a patient to test for a variety of medical ailments.
The study uses sensors made of xerogel, a porous, glasslike material that traps proteins within pores, to indicate the presence of chemicals in the sample.
According to Frank Bright, professor, associate chair of the chemistry department and co-author of the study, original xerogel sensors were large and "designed to detect only one chemical or molecule in a sample."
So Bright and Cho developed a new way to shrink xerogel technology. The method utilizes a micromachine to create wells on top of a light emitting diode (LED), which transforms electrical energy into light.
"However," Cho stated, "filling microwells was not a easy process."
The researchers looked into using pin printing, a technique developed in 1995 and employed in the Human Genome Project, where a tiny pin sucks up a small volume of solution and prints it onto microscope slides.
"Using a commercial pin-printer we can print 100 spots within one minute resulting [in] uniform spots and half in size than microwells. Printing spots is much faster and easier than filling microwells," stated Cho.
The solution dries in minutes on a slide and is then placed over the LED, causing a color change within the protein. Based on the color change, scientists are able to detect different chemicals.
According to Bright, the possible portability of the process is a major advantage. For example, it may eventually permit a patient released from the hospital - who needs to monitor his or her drug levels - to spit in a cup, use a sensor apparatus to analyze the chemicals in it and submit the results, via the Internet, for his or her doctor to examine at the hospital.
"We could put it in the food here [at UB], you never know what it would tell you," said Bright.
