Until recently, it was problematic for physicians to monitor real-time drug and disease levels inside a patient. The current methodology uses CT scans and MRIs to track disease and drug efficacy.
Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Bio-Nano Science and Monash University in Australia and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute have developed a pH detecting biosensor. The biosensor is a nanoparticle that reacts to pH levels in the body and can be used inside the body to transmit signals that can be detected via ultrasound. The study is published in the journal, ACS Sensors, and the biosensor technology has been granted an international provisional patent.
The biosensor can be inserted deep into tissues and uses pH levels as a biomarker, as the level of pH can be an indication of whether a tumor is shrinking. Soon, the researchers hope to also be able to use oxygen as a biomarker for stroke or other disease-related proteins that can indicate a specific disease in the body.
According to one of the research team leads, Dr. Simon Corrie, “The advantage of the technology is that, eventually, it will be able to be read by something as simple as a mobile phone which can currently record ultrasound, making it able to monitor patients in remote areas, without the need for big hospital labs.”
So far, the researchers have tested this technology to detect changes in animal pH levels, and are currently testing the biosensor to see if it can detect rapidly changing pH levels, with a focus on cancer and stroke. The end goal for the biosensor is for doctors to be able to insert the biosensor in a patient, administer drugs, and then use ultrasound to monitor the drug levels and disease response in real-time. With this real-time data, doctors could then adjust dosages based on the patient’s response to the therapy.