IU researchers develop ‘biosensors’

A new technology developed by IU researchers will help patients recovering from surgery and others in long-term care who suffer from sepsis, or an infection in their bloodstreams. \nDr. James Glazier of the IU Biocomplexity Institute said that a newly formed company, SpheroSense, is currently working on a prototype to produce “instruments that will allow you to monitor blood chemistry continuously so you can see how the patient’s condition is changing in time,” he said. \nHe explained that a new sensor will allow nurses and physicians to monitor a patient’s bloodstream for possible protein markers, which may signify a possible infection. \nThe new technology will “not only (be) getting a single reading but looking at how things are changing in the patient, and that can give you early warning of medical conditions like sepsis.”\nWhile current blood testing can monitor a patient’s condition, Glazier said the testing is often in a separate laboratory and testing can take several days or even weeks. \n“Obviously, if the patient’s condition can change over a few hours, making one measurement every two weeks isn’t going to be very helpful,” he said. \nWith about one million cases in the United States, and a 30 percent mortality rate each year, the ability to monitor a patient’s bloodstream on location continuously would have drastic affects on the medical community, said Glazier, according to a news release from IU Media Relations.\nGlazier said the idea came from his graduate student Dragos Amarie. \nProfessor Bogdan Dragnea, who is also working on the project, said he got involved by mistake. \n“It’s one of those happenings in research where you are looking for something but you find something else,” Dragnea said. \nHe said he was working on research using small optical devices to use light to manipulate small particles such as viruses. \n“We noticed that a component in our system was very sensitive to environmental changes,” he said. “The component later became this sensor.”\nHeading the business aspect of the new company, Andrew Cothrel said that from marketing prospective, they are in the early stages of development. \nRight now, he said, developing the prototype is key. \n“We need early prototypes to show basic proof of a concept,” Cothrel said. \nBeginning with some seed money from IU – an estimated $80,000, according to Dragnea – SpheroSense is attempting to get a variety of funding for creating a prototype, Cothrel said. \nThe company is currently seeking funding from the IU METACyt funds, the National Institutes of Health and private donors.\n“Because this is not without risk, you have to line up as many sources as you can to make money,” Cothrel said. \nCothrel has had experience working with medicine and business. As former vice president of Roche Diagnostics, which produces instruments to detect disease, Cothrel said that this new technology is very promising. \n“It’s exciting for IU and the region,” he said.