General purpose, field-portable cell-based biosensor platform

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Sensor Technology
• Biodefense

Background:

• Cell-based biosensors show promise for detecting chemical and biological warfare agents.
• Transitioning these sensors from laboratory to field requires robust hardware and software.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design, implement, and field-test a general-purpose hardware and software platform for cell-based biosensors.
• To enable electrophysiologic monitoring of cells in field conditions.

Main Methods:

• Developed a self-contained, battery-powered cell-transport module maintaining temperature and CO2 levels.
• Implemented a 32-channel data acquisition module for action potential amplification, filtering, and real-time data streaming.
• Conducted field-testing of both modules.

Main Results:

• The system successfully supported cell-based biosensor operation in field conditions.
• The cell-transport module maintained environmental parameters for cell viability.
• The data acquisition module provided real-time data streaming, with potential for future on-site analysis.

Conclusions:

• The developed hardware and software platform facilitates the field deployment of cell-based biosensors.
• This system addresses the critical need for portable and reliable biosensing capabilities for biodefense applications.