Project Portugal 2030

Summary

We aim to develop a novel point-of-care system for fast and accurate measurement of neurotransmitters that can enable early diagnosis and stratification of patients with brain disorders. Most brain disorders lack effective biomarkers for early diagnostics or monitoring disease progression and treatment effectiveness. The growing prevalence and societal/economic burden of these disorders requires urgent new technologies that enable precision diagnostics and help guiding treatment approaches. Many brain disorders are associated with changes in the levels of chemical neurotransmitters in the nervous system and other tissues/biological fluids, but current analytical methods to assess neurotransmitters levels are costly and often unsuitable for clinical practice. Thus, there is an urgent unmet need for the development of improved technologies that can measure relevant concentrations of neurotransmitters in biological samples from patients with brain disorders. In this project we will develop and deploy an innovative system for measuring neurotransmitters biomarkers in clinically relevant biological samples of brain disorder patients at point-of-care. BrainSENSE will bring together a multidisciplinary team centering its technological innovation on the convergence of graphene biosensors, nanoelectronics, advanced nanomaterial engineering, edge computing, artificial intelligence, and preclinical experiments. This combination of cutting-edge technologies will lead to a unique system that will address the main limitation of existing technology. This will enable fast multiplexed measurement of multiple neurotransmitters with ultra-sensitivity, accuracy, and reduced costs, in low-volume samples. Through extensive iterative testing, optimization, integration, and validation stages, BrainSENSE will deliver a unique system ready for deployment and testing at point-of-care. See Annex for a graphical overview of the project. Headed towards our main goal, our specific objectives during project execution will be: - Development of a smart integrated chip for high-throughput large-scale measurements of neurotransmitters, combining CMOS nanoelectronics with graphene sensor micro/nano-fabrication and edge computing for automated control of sensor operation. - Integration of a new method for individual sensor functionalization with microscale resolution, based on automated microfocus ion sputtering in vacuum chambers. - AI assisted classification and stratification of biological samples from brain disorder patients using our novel sensor. Considering that measuring neurotransmitters in patient samples at point-of-care with high-throughput methods that are fast, accurate, and cost-effective remains a challenge, our novel device and preliminary validation will establish the groundwork for future clinical translation. BrainSENSE can have widespread impact by guiding precision medicine through faster and more accurate diagnostics, improved patient stratification, and refined therapeutic effectiveness monitoring, ultimately improving the quality of life of those afflicted by brain disorders.