Methods and apparatuses for detecting analytes in biological fluid of an animal

• US 8,268,638 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2008
• Issued: 09/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Advantageous Systems, LLC
• Original Assignee: Advantageous Systems, LLC
• Inventors: Stein, Adam L., White, Jacob M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yu, Melanie J
• Application Number:
  US12/175,147
• Publication Number:
  US 20090024019A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,524 Days
• Field of Search: 436/518, 436/524, 436/525, 436/526
• US Class Current: 436/526
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0515 Magnetic particle imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/54326 Magnetic particles
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/54346 Nanoparticles
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/56911 Bacteria

Abstract

Methods and devices for detecting an analyte are provided. An analyte binding molecule is fixed to a nanoparticle to form a nanoparticle complex. The analyte binding molecule is capable of binding an analyte. The nanoparticle complex is introduced into one of a circulatory system of an animal or biological fluid of the animal. The analyte is allowed to bind to the nanoparticle complex. The analyte bound nanoparticle complex can be extracted and the presence of the analyte can be detected.

Claims

1. A method of detecting an analyte comprising the steps of:

providing at least one nanoparticle, wherein the nanoparticle is magnetic;

fixing at least one analyte binding molecule to the at least one nanoparticle to form a nanoparticle complex, the at least one analyte binding molecule being capable of binding an analyte;

introducing the nanoparticle complex into a circulatory system of an animal or biological fluid within the animal;

allowing the analyte to bind to the at least one analyte binding molecule within the animal to form an analyte bound nanoparticle complex;

extracting the analyte bound nanoparticle complex prior to detecting the analyte wherein at least one of the acts of introducing and extracting the nanoparticle complex comprises using a magnetic field to move the nanoparticle complex through the skin of the animal; and

detecting the presence of the analyte.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one nanoparticle is selected from the group consisting of:

superparamagnetic magnetite (Fe₃O₄), and maghemite (yFe₂O₃) iron oxide nanoparticles.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one nanoparticle further comprises one of Co²⁺ and Mn²⁺.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one nanoparticle has a polyethylene glycol coating.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one nanoparticle is coated with a material selected from the group consisting of:

polymers, dextran,-polyvinylpyrrolidone, fatty acids, polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylic acid, polypeptides, phosphorylcholine, poly(d,l-lactide), poly(n-isopropylacrylamid), chitosan and gelatin.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyte is a glucose, and the at least one analyte binding molecule is one of concanavalin A and a glucose binding protein.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one analyte binding molecule is an antibody and the analyte is one of a virus antigen and bacterial antigen.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one analyte binding molecule is one of a viral surface protein, cancer cell surface protein and bacterial protein and the analyte is an antibody.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein introducing the at least one nanoparticle does not require piercing the skin of the animal.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a concentration of the analyte.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the magnet field is between about 100 Gauss and about 20000 Gauss.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the magnetic field using one of a rare earth magnet or an electromagnet.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the presence of the analyte is detected by one of a nanomechanical resonator, a giant magnetoresistance sensor, and a field flow fractionation technique followed by SQUID magnetometry.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the presence of the analyte is detected by ELISA techniques.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the detection of the analyte further comprises using chromatographic techniques to elute the analyte prior to using the ELISA techniques.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing the biologic fluid from an animal and at least one of the acts of introducing and extracting the nanoparticle complex using a magnetic field to move the nanoparticle complex through the biologic fluid.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the presence of the analyte is detected by PCR techniques.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one nanoparticle is between about 1 nm and about 500 nm in diameter.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one nanoparticle is between about 1 nm and about 10 nm in diameter.