I-Corps: Volatile Organic Compound Sensors using Conducting Polymer and Nanocomposite Blends deposited by Resonant Infrared, Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

There is a large number of diabetics for whom a simple breath test to determine glucose abnormalities would be deemed superior to the current standard blood test. Development of a non-invasive method to monitor blood glucose that mirrors the accuracy of the painful blood test would revolutionize not only the lives of diabetics, but also the lives of the physicians who monitor their health. The painful blood test that is currently the standard monitoring method is potentially expensive, and it also deters regular monitoring of glucose - often with dangerous outcomes. It is especially dangerous for diabetics who have hypoglycemia unawareness, in which case, only the glucose test will alert the person to the dangerously low blood sugar levels that can lead to coma or even death. This work will develop gas sensors for detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled human breath that act as biomarkers of internal bodily processes, specifically those processes existing uniquely in diabetes patients. The gas sensors comprise organic thin-films deposited by resonant infrared, matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (RIR-MAPLE). RIR-MAPLE provides vastly increased processability and control over a large range of functional organic materials for which few methods exist to effectively fabricate films with nanoscale features.