Israeli company BioPen offers in-the-field testing for bioagent exposure
Miniaturized technology offers a complete ELISA array for only $15 a test; device can also test for water potability and various cancers; researchers are actively looking for $1-2 million in R&D funding
Those with severe food allergies often carry an epi-pen, a portable syringe with a mechanical injection mechanism. Soon soldiers may be carrying a similar device, not to treat exposure to peanuts in the field but to detect biowarfare agents, diagnose disease, and identify drinkable water. The BioPen, also known as the “Lab-in-a-Pen,” is currenly under development by Israeli scientists at Ben Gurion University in the Negev. Equipped with a small LCD screen and relying on the widely employed Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), the BioPen does not even require preliminary training or any medical knowledge to be used effectively. It can also be attached to a PC for data storage and manipulation.
End-users of the BioPen use a retractable needle to either take a small blood sample from a patient or collect a drop of water from a potentially contaminated source. Once complete, the internal mechanism does all the work, thereby protecting the user from contamination. The sample is exposed to a fiber-optic tip, which in turn is processed by various miniaturized lab testing techniques. Finally, if a dangerous substance is detected, a light shined upon the fiber-optic tip will be transferred to the BioPen’s cap, thereby providing the quantitative and qualitative data for identifying the presence of the putative bio-agent.
According to researcher Dr. Robert Marks, the BioPen has applications beyond homeland security, including field veterinary tests and point-of-care testing for human patients. In addition to detecting a wide range of viruses, it can also perform tests for ovarian and breast cancer, and can detect exposure to chemical agents such as nerve gas.
Investors take note: Dr. Marks is actively looking for $1-2 million in funding in order to take the pen through the research and development phase. According to Marks, this should take three or four years, plus a few more to get it onto the market. He estimates the market price at approximately $15 per test, not including the cost of the non-disposable cap containing the photodetector.
-read more in this The Future of Things report
