Sepsis (blood poisoning) is responsible for one in every five deaths worldwide. Diagnosis currently relies on laboratory blood tests—and often comes too late. Researchers are currently exploring several approaches for faster detection using sensors made from various materials. One collaborative project between the TU Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF) and the Indian KL University in Andhra Pradesh focuses on an electrochemical system based on biofunctionalised nanocomposites capable of detecting two sepsis biomarkers in just a single drop of blood.
Indian guest scientist Tummala Anusha and her PhD student Lavanya Bandi are investigating nanocomposites based on PANI-ZIF-8 at TUBAF, which enable the detection of two key proteins: procalcitonin and C-reactive protein. “They are also assessing which other nanomaterials or combinations thereof could achieve even higher sensitivity, as well as identifying the most suitable analytical methods for characterising these materials,” explains host researcher Parvaneh Rahimi, group leader at the Institute for Nanoscale and Bio-based Materials at TUBAF. “The excellent measurement and analytical infrastructure available at TUBAF is essential for further development—without these modern instruments, we simply couldn’t progress,” says Tummala Anusha.
Achieving faster results
“Overall, this mobile sepsis test takes less than five minutes—compared to several days required for bacterial culture-based testing in a laboratory,” explains the chemist, who works as Assistant Professor at KL University Andhra Pradesh. The project, titled “Development of an Electrochemical Biosensing Platform for Multiplexed Simultaneous Quantification of Sepsis Biomarkers,” is funded by the Indo-German Science and Technology Research Centre for a total of around €10,000 over one year. This funding includes the guest research stay of the two Indian scientists at TUBAF. However, further research and clinical trials are still required before the new sensor can be used in practical medical settings.
