Blast, ballistic and blunt trauma sensor

• US 9,080,984 B2
• Filed: 01/10/2013
• Issued: 07/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United States Secretary of the Army
• Original Assignee: The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army
• Inventors: Mentzer, Mark Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheu, Jacob
• Application Number:
  US13/737,985
• Publication Number:
  US 20130189795A1
• Time in Patent Office: 915 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/78 producing a change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2500/00 Screening for compounds of potential therapeutic value
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2800/28 Neurological disorders
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2800/40 Disorders due to exposure to physical agents, e.g. heat disorders, motion sickness, radiation injuries, altitude sickness, decompression illness
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/5432 Liposomes or microcapsules
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/54366 Apparatus specially adapted for solid-phase testing
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/582 with fluorescent label
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/6896 Neurological disorders, e.g. Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

A molecular biosensor is provided including a lipid vesicle and a housing wherein the vesicle is contained on or within the housing and where the housing has a portion capable of transmitting a force generated, external to the housing to the vesicle. The biosensor is used in processes of detecting the presence or absence of an event force such as a blast or blunt force sufficient to produce a medical complication such as traumatic brain injury.

Claims

1. A molecular biosensor for determining blast, ballistic and blunt trauma comprising:

a lipid vesicle comprising a detection agent;

a housing, said vesicle contained on or within said housing, said housing having a portion capable of transmitting a blast, ballistic or blunt traumatic force generated external to said housing to said vesicle;

wherein said vesicle comprises phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, sphingomyelin cholesterol, ceramide, or combinations thereof;

wherein the phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, sphingomyelin cholesterol, ceramide, or combinations thereof are inserted into a circular dichroism (CD) meter to measure a differential absorbance of left and right circularly polarized light; and

further wherein a differential circular dichroism is created by disruption of intramolecular chiral iterations of three-dimensional molecular structures as well as a chiral symmetry breaking of nonchiral molecules in a sensor material construction.

2. The biosensor of claim 1 wherein said vesicle consists of phosphatidylcholine.

3. The biosensor of claim 1 wherein said vesicle comprises greater than 50 percent total lipid of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, or a combination thereof, and

wherein said housing is in the form of a lamellar structure, interlaced sheet, capsule, or tablet.

4. The biosensor of claim 1 wherein said housing is in the form of a capsule.

5. The biosensor of claim 1 wherein said vesicle further comprises a detection agent.

6. The biosensor of claim 1 wherein said detection agent consists of a fluorophore.