'Lab-on-a-Glove' Tech Brings Nerve Agent Detection to User's Fingertips

Organophosphate pesticides are very effective at getting rid of unwanted pests, but they can also make people very sick. Related compounds (organophosphate nerve agents) can be used as deadly weapons. Now, researchers from the University of California San Diego have developed a quick way to detect the presence of these compounds in the field using a disposable 'lab-on-a-glove.' The wearable glove biosensor carries out the sampling and electrochemical biosensing steps on different fingers, with the thumb finger used for collecting the nerve-agent residues and an enzyme immobilized on the index finger. The researchers created stretchable inks to print the collection and sensing elements on these fingers. Detection of the collected residues is performed when the thumb touches the printed enzyme-based organophosphate biosensor on the glove index finger. A user swipes the thumb of the glove on a surface for testing, then touches the thumb and index fingers together for an electrochemical analysis.

Transcript

00:00:00 there's a reason why farmers wear protective gear when applying organophosphate pesticides the substances are very effective at getting rid of unwanted bugs but they can also make human sick related compounds organophosphate nerve agents are deadly joseph wang and colleagues at the University of California San Diego and CSIRO manufacturing an Australian

00:00:20 government corporate entity wanted to design a lab on a glove sensor that could check for the presence of such substances to do so they would need to make the collecting and sensing surfaces as flexible as the glove to meet that challenge the researchers created stretchable functional inks to print sample collectors and enzyme based biosensors onto flexible gloves the

00:00:42 printed parts could be stretched multiple times without breaking they also worked well after bending many times with the stretchiness down the researchers put the sample collector on the glove stump and the enzyme based bio sensor on the index finger to test for organophosphates a user would swipe the thumb on a surface and then touch the thumb to the index finger the sensors

00:01:03 enzyme reacts with any organophosphate in the sample creating an electrochemical signal that's detected by the gloves printed electronics the electrical data are sent by a reusable Bluetooth device on the back of the glove to a user's mobile device detecting organophosphate pesticides and nerve agents accurately and quickly could help improve monitoring in the

00:01:23 areas of Defence and food security