MIT researchers have built a chip-scale sensor smaller than a penny that can detect pneumonia biomarkers in exhaled breath within 10 minutes. The device, called PlasmoSniff, works by having patients inhale engineered nanoparticles that bind to infection-specific enzymes in the lungs. Those enzymes snip off synthetic biomarker compounds, which are then exhaled and captured by the sensor.
The critical advance over a 2020 proof-of-concept paper, which required lab-grade instruments, is a new detection method: enhanced Raman spectroscopy, developed by MIT assistant professor of mechanical engineering Loza Tadesse and her team. It identifies exhaled biomarkers at extremely low concentrations using targeted light illumination of molecules. Lead author and MIT postdoc Aditya Garg is now working to integrate this into a handheld device for clinical or home use.
The full paper is worth reading for the nanoparticle engineering specifics and how the sensor distinguishes pneumonia signals from background noise at such low concentrations. The researchers also flag a wider application: the same system can detect industrial chemicals and airborne pollutants, which opens a different set of use cases entirely.
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