2D Material-powered wearable electrochemical biosensors for non-invasive detection and monitoring of health & healthiness biomarkers
Project Details
Project Description
Wearable electrochemical biosensors enable real-time detection and monitoring of biomarkers related to health and wellness anywhere and anytime. While many current wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches) rely primarily on physical sensors that track signals such as heart rate or temperature without sampling biofluids, this limits their ability to measure true biochemical indicators of health. This project focuses on developing an advanced wearable biosensing platform capable of sampling and analyzing skin biofluids, particularly interstitial fluid (ISF), a rich source of biomarkers that closely reflect blood composition.
The project integrates three main research themes:
- Microneedle Development: Designing and fabricating microneedle arrays for ISF extraction, involving polymer network and hydrogel design, as well as characterization of swelling, mechanical, and biocompatibility properties.
- Biosensor Development: Creating electrochemical biosensors using 2D nanomaterials to enhance analytical performance. Students will gain hands-on experience in surface modification and bioreceptor immobilization, characterized using techniques such as XPS, AFM, SEM, and EDX.
- Device Integration: Assembling the microneedle and biosensing components into a compact, wearable device for continuous, non-invasive monitoring.
About the Researcher
Affiliations
Education Profile
- Postdoctoral Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, 2021
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, 2020
- Ph.D. Bioengineering, Imperial College London, UK, 2019
- B.Eng. and M.Eng. Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, UK, 2015
Research Interests
a€‹Dr Al-Sulaiman's research focuses on the development of next generation biosensing platforms to detect an emerging class of disease biomarkers called cell-free nucleic acids including microRNA and cell-free DNA. At the intersection between polymeric biomaterials and microtechnologies, her research includes advancements in hydrogel beads, microparticles, microneedles and microarrays. She is also interested in single-molecule detection technologies, namely nanopore sensors, for the detection and characterization of rare disease biomarkers. Dr Al-Sulaiman's research aims to tackle urgent clinical needs including early detection and monitoring of cancer and Alzheimer's disease in addition to understanding the skin microbiome.Selected Publications
- Al Sulaiman, Dana, Alfie Gatehouse, Aleksandar P. Ivanov, Joshua B. Edel, and Sylvain Ladame. ""Length-Dependent, Single-Molecule Analysis of Short Double-Stranded DNA Fragments through Hydrogel-Filled Nanopores: A Potential Tool for Size Profiling Cell-Free DNA."" ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2021).
- Al Sulaiman, Dana, Sarah J. Shapiro, Jose Gomez-Marquez, and Patrick S. Doyle. ""High-Resolution Patterning of Hydrogel Sensing Motifs within Fibrous Substrates for Sensitive and Multiplexed Detection of Biomarkers."" ACS Sensors (2020).
- Al Sulaiman, Dana, Jason YH Chang, Nitasha R. Bennett, Helena Topouzi, Claire A. Higgins, Darrell J. Irvine, and Sylvain Ladame. ""Hydrogel-coated microneedle arrays for minimally invasive sampling and sensing of specific circulating nucleic acids from skin interstitial fluid."" ACS Nano 13, no. 8 (2019): 9620-9628.
- Al Sulaiman, Dana, Paolo Cadinu, Aleksandar P. Ivanov, Joshua B. Edel, and Sylvain Ladame. ""Chemically modified hydrogel-filled nanopores: a tunable platform for single-molecule sensing."" Nano Letters 18, no. 9 (2018): 6084-6093.
- Al Sulaiman, Dana, Jason YH Chang, and Sylvain Ladame. ""Subnanomolar detection of oligonucleotides through templated fluorogenic reaction in hydrogels: controlling diffusion to improve sensitivity."" Angewandte Chemie International Edition 56, no. 19 (2017): 5247-5251.
Desired Project Deliverables
The aim of the project will be to deliver the following main objectives:
- Develop a polymeric microneedle and characterize its relevant properties.
- Develop an electrochemical biosensor for health and wellness biomarkers (e.g., lactate, hormones) and characterize the analytical performance of the developed biosensor (sensitivity, specificity, dynamic range, etc).
- Optimize the analytical performance and validate the assay with synthetic and clinical samples
-Propose the wearable device design and its fabrication
- Submit a report on the preliminary results which will be used as a platform for a peer-reviewed research article